Hacker
by Floaging
Summary: When the Titans are attacked, Nightwing leaves a girl in the care of the League. But just why are so many people willing to die to get their hands on this girl? Flash/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

Genre: Romance/Adventure. Flash/OC

Rating: T

Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she hadn't used the puppy dog eyes. She'd been sort of desperate, but they hadn't looked liked they'd let up until she pulled the face. You could always tell – their eyes seemed to soften and even Raven's lips would twitch into a semblance of a smile. So in the end they let her, finding a building that looked safe, and waited outside for her because the girls weren't there and boys going into the girl's toilet? They'd been near her school, and so they'd relented and let her go since it was the only place she hadn't been attacked in yet. So she listened to Pink on her iPod and sang out of tune while washing her hands. It was her own fault really – she was just asking to be attacked. The only notice she had was when she caught him coming up behind her as she looked into the mirrors.

She swung round and he shoved her into the sinks, her head cracking up against the mirrors. Slightly dazed, she managed to knee him, causing him to double over, before kneeing again him the stomach. She had no doubt that there was someone waiting by the door in case he failed – the pattern was predictable – so she tore open her bag and shoved her hand in, desperately feeling for anything she could use.

He'd managed to make some semblance of a recovery by the time she found it, so she hadn't actually meant to do it. She couldn't bang him round the head because he was too close, so she panicked and as her hands closed, his fingers slipped into the gap and…he ended up with his fingers stapled together. He hadn't screamed, which was good, but he was still coming for her so she smashed him round the head with the stapler instead. He fell to the ground in the heap and it was only then she realized her hands were shaking.

And the fact that she was still listening to Pink shocked her slightly.

She felt for his pulse, which was steady and strong. And he was already groaning, so she had to move fast. Leaving the stapler where it was – it was no use to her covered in blood and now dented from the bang – she looked around for any feasible escape exits. A window was open above one of the stalls, so she grabbed her bag and chucked it out. Standing on the loo, she started sliding out head first, which was the only thing that saved her when the room exploded.

She literally shot out, thrown by the force of the explosion. Her leg was on fire, the smell of chemicals mixed with smoke sending her into a coughing fit as she twisted, trying to put it out. Tears were slipping down her face, her coughs turning to sobs as she sat up, every movement of her leg sending waves of pain through her.

Pulling at her bag, she shuffled through it, finding some scissors. Her hand was still unsteady as she began to hack through her jeans, leaving the calf exposed. "Oh God." She whispered, her eyes shutting involuntarily. "I need…antiseptic, gauze, painkillers, where's the first aid thing?" Mumbling to herself, she searched through her bag. Her hand wrapped around a solid object, which when she pulled it out turned out to be a communicator. She shakily turned it on, and waited for someone to answer the call. "Ellie, where the hell are you?" Nightwing barked at her, relief evident in his voice.

"I'm round the side. I can see the street if I squint," she muttered drowsily, staring off to where a street lamp was glowing.

"Starfire's coming to get you. Stay where you are," Nightwing ordered before signing off.

Shutting her bag, she closed her eyes and lay down.

"Ellie, you are damaged," came Star's concerned voice a few moments later, as she gently picked her up.

"Just need some gauze and stuff. I think there was," she yawned, covering her mouth with her hand quickly, "some knockout gas. But I only got a tiny bit, cause I jumped out the window."

"How did you get to the window so quickly?" Starfire asked, flying slowly around the corner.

"There was a guy. But I stapled him." She giggled. "Stapled him."

"Ellie, I am not letting you out of my sight until we get to safe house. How the hell do you get yourself in these situations?" Nightwing cried as Starfire landed. "It's a good thing you turned up when you did. Her wound looks pretty bad. Raven, do you think you could…"

The question was left incomplete as a harsh guttural sound forced the Teen Titans and their guest to turn around. Several creatures with heights of seven feet, red scales, three toes with curled toenails, another toe located at the back, and Roman Armour was what she first saw. The faces were surprisingly human-like, until you noticed the bloodlust in the pupil-less eyes and the teeth sharpened to points. Jabbing spears at them, they appeared to be trying to communicate.

"Dude, this is so not my day." Beast Boy complained before turning into a green gorilla.

"Titans, go!" Nightwing shouted as Starfire gently laid Ellie on the floor, settling her blue and white bag beside her.

"I should not have left the stapler in there," she whispered as the others threw themselves into battle. Nightwing stayed next to her, fending off any of the monsters who came close.

But there were more coming. They seemed to appear out of thin air, three appearing with every one down. Cyborg had lost an arm due to the attack and Beast Boy was bleeding heavily from a stab wound to the side. Nightwing was slowly becoming overwhelmed and both heroines were surrounded.

One of the creatures managed to get past the defenses, and grabbed Ellie. She had been smashing most of them who came near with her bag, which was surprisingly heavy. Jabbing upwards with her left hand, the creature caught it and crushed it, before scraping his nails along her face, leaving three bloody gashes. It missed her eyes by centimeters as she let out a scream.

A starbolt sent him crashing down, as Starfire hovered above Ellie, her green eyes flashing furiously.

"Nightwing, take her to the League!" Raven shouted as she sent another car smashing into the approaching army. "We don't have access and we can't protect her here!"

"I can't just leave!" he argued, a birdarang cart wheeling into a creature.

Green light filled the area, as Starfire let out a scream of rage, sending numbers of them sprawling. "Go! We must protect her, and protect her we must!" she shouted, smashing her foot into another one of them. There were just too many.

Nightwing lunged at Ellie, and dragged her away from one of them, turning on the communicator in his ear. "Nightwing to Justice League. I repeat, Nightwing to Justice League. 081654, this is Nightwing and guest requesting teleportation. I repeat, Nightwing and guest. Backup required in area code."

Ellie kicked out at one of the creatures with her good leg, her eyes rolling around wildly as she let out a scream of pain. Her broken hand was crushed against Nightwing's chest as he bent over her, sending another one flying with a birdarang.

"This is Mr. Terrific to Nightwing. Permission granted."

A scream to his right, caused him to turn round, gripping Ellie to him tightly. "Star – "

The suddenly quiet room startled him. "Green Arrow, Super Girl and Black Canary report to front. Back up required," sounded over an intercom, followed by, "Emergency Medics report to front, two injured, one unconscious. I repeat, report to front."

Nightwing twisted to see Mr. Terrific standing at the desk. He jabbed a thumbs up before repeating the message. Nightwing stayed kneeling until the medics turned up and slipped Ellie onto the stretcher. Her eyes flickered as she tried to focus on him. "Nightwing," she rasped, "It really hurts."

"You're going to be fine," he whispered. Turning round he called to Mr. Terrific. "Where are Superman and the others?"

"They're in the conference room – the Original 7 are having a meeting because they're decommissioning the Watchtower, after Fla – where are you going?"

Nightwing had already sprinted off, blood splattering around from his wounds. Dodging past Supergirl, he hurtled around the corner. "Was that…?" she asked, startled, turning to Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Green Arrow shrugged. "He was moving so fast, I'd have thought it was Flash except he was wearing black."

"Nightwing is coming," J'onn said quietly in the meeting room.

Flash stood up fast and smiled cheekily. "Dick's coming? Now we can get the party started."

J'onn shook his head.

"There is something wrong. I believe he is in need of medical attention." Batman's face darkened considerably as Superman slowly stood up.

"Can you tell what's wrong with him?"

J'onn shook his head. "His thoughts are too confused, though he seems terrified for those he left behind."

The door slammed open, a breathless Nightwing on the side. His costume was in tatters and a drop of blood was sliding down his face.

"Richard," Wonder Woman gasped.

"I need you to look after Ellie for a few weeks," he ground out, staring at Batman.

"Ellie?"

"There's been around five kidnap attempts over the past fortnight – human, alien, they've been coming in waves. We kept her in the tower, but they keep breaking in. Until we can figure out why, she's safest here. Please. We don't have anywhere else," he whispered.

Glancing around at his teammates, Superman nodded. "Of course. The tower won't be shut down for a couple of months until we get sorted out back on Earth. She can stay here until then."

Relief obvious on his face, Nightwing breathed out a thank you before turning away.

"Dick!" Flash called, concerned.

"I'll catch you later Wally – I need to go back and help." He disappeared around the corner.

Green Lantern caught Flash's arm as he moved to chase him. "But, GL-"

He shook his head. "They've got people. We need to figure out what's going on and then see to this…"

"Ellie," Hawkgirl reminded him. Turning her attention to J'onn, she asked, "Is she with the medics?"

His eyes glowed softly before he nodded in response. "She is unconscious, and her injuries are quite severe. Her left calf has second degree burns, the bones in her left hand have been shattered, and there appears to be a poison in some deep scratches on her face."

Flash winced. "Hope she has super healing or something."

J'onn shook his head. "She appears to have no special powers."

Batman sat back in his chair. "It would explain why the Titans are protecting her. If she had powers, then she wouldn't be in as much need. I wonder where her parents are," he murmured, almost to himself.

Superman shook his head. "We aren't going to get anything sorted out today. One of us needs to go check with the medics. Diana, do you mind finding a room for her somewhere in the 'Tower?"

"Of course not. How old is the girl?" she asked, turning to J'onn.

"I do not know. I gained my knowledge of her injuries from the doctors." Nodding, she left, closing the door behind her.

Superman sat down again slowly. "Wally, go check with the medics – we need to know how she's doing and so on."

The smile on the speedster's face had vanished as he nodded, before fleeing the room.

"We really could do without this," the Man of Steel sighed.

Hawkgirl shrugged. "We made a commitment to protect all innocents. For us to do that, she needs to stay here. So I say she stays." Hefting up her mace, she rested it on her shoulder. John followed her out as she walked out the room.

"I'll find out some information about her once Flash finds what he can. It'll be fine, Clark." Batman said, sounding almost optimistic as he stalked out of the room.

J'onn had also vanished, no doubt back to monitoring duty.

Superman sighed. "I really hope so, Bruce. I really hope so."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

Ellie had woken up a few moments after J'onn had telepathically found about her injuries. Both disorientated and scared, she had screamed bloody murder until someone had managed to sedate her. A heavy dosage, it knocked her unconscious as they rushed her into surgery with the hopes that they could repair her hand.

Flash had arrived about five minutes later, having stopped at the cafeteria to quickly grab some food. "Hey, Doc," he greeted cheerfully, his ever-hopeful grin once again plastered across his face.

"Flash. I presume you are here about our newest patient?"

Flash nodded once.

"Doctor Marth is in there operating on her hand. She was unconscious when she first arrived, in which time we managed to get her fingerprints and blood type. Batman no doubt will want the information to find out about the patient," Doctor Roberts said, his tone snarky. Shoving some papers into Flash's hand, he shooed him away.

"No need to be rude, Doc. Just trying to help." He shot off, heading towards the monitoring room.

"Here, Bats." Batman pulled the papers out of Flash's hand with a growl. "What's the matter Bats? Feeling a little batty today?" Snickering slightly, Flash disappeared around a corner, no doubt heading back to the cafeteria.

Batman ground his teeth together before stalking off towards the teleport. "I need to head back to Gotham," he barked at the intern manning the teleporter.

Nodding, he quickly inputted the coordinates and Batman disappeared.

* * *

The Titans, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Supergirl had returned quickly, the creatures soon disappearing once they realized their target was no longer there. Raven had healed those injured on the battlefield, and by the time they returned, was too exhausted to attempt to heal Ellie.

After recharging, she managed to heal her injuries part way, but told them it would take at least two weeks for her hand or leg to completely heal. As of yet, none of the Justice League had seen their newest arrival – the Original Seven had avoided the room, fearing they would make her uncomfortable if she woke up, and the rest of the League had yet to hear of her existence.

Upon the Titans' arrival, they had explained of the situation that had forced them to ask the League for the favor. Elizabeth Alice Clarke, seventeen years of age, had been orphaned two years before in a car crash that killed both her parents and her ten-year-old brother. She had moved into a city orphanage within Jump City and was receiving high grades with what seemed minimal effort. Three weeks before, she had been randomly injured in a shooting attempt. Two more attempts had happened over that week, alerting the Titans to her existence. They had insisted on providing protection, though there had been a belief that meta-humans were not needed because both attempts had been by humans.

Suddenly, meta-humans had begun to attack her, followed by a series of alien invasions. It turned out they were no longer trying to kill her. Instead, each and every attack was led on the basis of capture. She had been placed in the Tower for her own protection, but all manner of creatures seemed to be able to bypass security. Worried for her, the Titans had agreed to move her to a safe house in England, somewhere far away enough that the attackers would hopefully be unable to find her. En route to a teleportation device, she had stopped off to go to the toilet, Raven and Starfire having gone to scout ahead due to their ability to fly. After investigations into the explosion, it had turned out to be a setup. Every house on the block had a bomb placed under it, so wherever she went, it would have exploded.

The game plan seemed to have changed until some aliens had turned up in hordes. Known as Psarlks, they mostly spent their time trying to defeat the Gordanians and all other species located in their universe. This was the first time two attacks had occurred in one day, each with different priorities – this one was clearly a kill, all but the girl attempt. Overwhelmed by numbers, and injuries occurring thick and fast, they had been forced to forgo the safe house. Despite numerous investigations, they had been unable to find out what had caused these attempts. She appeared to have no particular connection with any of the attackers and was completely human. There appeared to be no connection between the attacks, each one made for that particular group's personal gain.

The Titans had left after Raven healed Ellie, promising to report any news. Ellie had remained unconscious for around five days after she had been brought to the Watchtower, due to a concussion that was believed to have happened during the fight. Batman had taken to investigating all possible angles, to try to find why this girl was being targeted. He became moody the more he investigated as each search brought back nothing, and had taken to criticizing her, suggesting that she was not to be trusted, or else there would be a reason behind it. The others remained unconvinced, trusting in the Titans but wary of the possible ramifications of allowing her to stay within the Watchtower.

* * *

Ellie woke up to a relatively quiet room, the beeping of the heart monitor the only sound she could hear. She shot up, unable to remember how she had gotten there. She was sitting in a metal bed, the sheets white and made of cotton, her dress matching. Pulling the covers back, she twisted and began to stand. Pain shot through her left leg and she collapsed forward onto the floor, landing on her right arm.

She stayed there, adjusting to the pain, before attempting to stand, this time lessening the weight on her left leg. Her bag was on a chair next to the bed, and as she rested once more on the bed, Ellie grabbed the bag and began to rummage around with her right hand. She had already realized what had happened to her left – tightly wrapped in gauze, it was heavy, meaning it was difficult to move her arm.

Awkwardly, she got dressed. The pair of dark blue jeans that had gotten trashed in the attack had been cleaned up, the other left cut off leaving a ragged looking pair of three quarter lengths. She slipped into them before pulling on a red T-Shirt from David and Goliath. After shoving on some socks, Ellie realized she had a problem. All her shoes were lace ups and with one hand out of action she couldn't tie them.

She pulled on some black converses for the sake of it, stuffing the laces into the shoe so they wouldn't cause her to trip over any shoestrings. She was already panicking, worrying about who had managed to kidnap her – there was no other reason she would be in a place she didn't recognize. It was quite obvious that she wasn't in a hospital due to the high tech equipment. The only way she would get out of here would be if she left her bag behind, which worried her slightly. Her bag contained basically everything she owned, including her laptop.

Her laptop was her lifeline, and there was no way she could leave it, so she pulled it out. Smooth and sleek, the black OS4 was the most high-tech laptop ever invented. There were two symbols on the front, interlinked, representing sight and speech, glowing gold. She used a backpack to carry it in, in case something like this ever happened, so she slowly slid the laptop plus accessories into the black backpack.

Over time she had decorated the backpack with random bits of knowledge, always in her favourite gold pen. They ranged from "Stressed spelled backwards = Desserts. Coincidence? I think not," to "Emus can't walk backwards." It kept her amused, as she found it difficult to stay still, finding herself easily bored if she didn't have something to distract her.

Ellie zipped it up and pulled on a black hoodie before she slipped on the backpack. Trying to walk was agony, but she wasn't about to sit back and have some madmen experiment on her, or whatever it was that they were going to do. She stumbled over to the mirror to see if she was passable and froze in horror. Three thin white scars decorated her face. The largest went from her forehead down to the opposite part of her face, the other two scars narrowly missing her eyes. They were quite thin and as she moved backwards and out of the light, they seemed to disappear.

Frowning, she considered her options. She could go out and run the risk of someone realizing she wasn't part of their little 'group', which would probably happen if they were aliens. Or she could stay here and let them come anyway. Coming to a decision, Ellie pulled up her hood and pressed the button to see if the door would open. It slid open silently, surprising her what with the lack of security. Ellie checked both ways before limping out and heading towards the closest door.

She opened it nervously and was relieved to see no one else around. She had to find somewhere to hide where her kidnappers were unlikely to find her, and she could use the OS4. Ellie began to walk slower in an attempt to stop people from realizing she was limping as she wandered down the corridor. When she saw no one after around 20 minutes of walking she became uneasy, knowing that her luck would eventually run out. She'd stuffed her broken hand into her pocket to avoid anybody guessing, but it didn't seem like she needed to. The place was practically deserted.

* * *

"Flash, that was _not_ funny," Supergirl fumed as she shoved past him, whipped cream covering her uniform.

He snickered. "If I'd done it to anyone else you would have found it funny."

She glared at him as she stormed on, heading towards the showers. "You are infuriating." Her voice was low and hard, as she punched the button to open the door.

Flash rushed past her in an attempt to block her off, worried about the possible repercussions if she stormed off angry – Supergirl was known to invent much worse revenge ideas if she was left to stew. He didn't expect to bang into a girl who had obviously been about to press the button. She staggered backwards and would have fallen over if he hadn't wrapped a hand around her waist and pulled her up.

The black hood fell away. With super speed came the ability to take everything in an instant. Her brown hair curled down to her shoulders, big blue eyes staring at him in surprise. Her lips were full and her cheeks round. The shaped eyebrows and slightly large forehead gave the face some authority, which was diminished by the slight roundness of the face. She had a sort of pixyish look about her, with long shapely legs, but small breasts from what he could tell. As she moved, he thought he saw some white lines slashed across her face, but they disappeared as she stared at him in what appeared to be shock.

"Sorry." Flash said nervously. The girl was about 5'6, so quite a bit shorter than his 6 feet height, but she could have some evil powers for all he knew. He was pretty surprised that he didn't recognize her, as he prided himself on knowing basically everyone aboard the Watchtower, including the tech staff.

"Are you okay?" Supergirl asked, startled when the blue eyes swiveled over to her. "I'm fine." The girl laughed, sounding a little nervous. They shifted, the silence beginning to become unbearable. "Are you new to the League? You look a little lost." The girl perked up, looking a little relieved, and Supergirl congratulated herself on figuring out what was wrong.

"You're the Justice League?" she blurted out.

Flash raised an eyebrow. "Part of it. How did you get onto the Watchtower if you didn't..." He paused and reassessed the girl in front of her. Her left hand was stuffed in her pocket, most of her weight was on her right leg, and he knew he had seen scratches on her face. "You're the girl that Dick brought in." He smiled, snapping his fingers, pleased to have figured out who she was. "It's Ellie, right? I'm Flash and this is Supergirl." He frowned at her. "Why aren't you in the med bay?"

Ellie bit her lip. "I thought I'd been kidnapped," she said, shrugging slightly. "I didn't exactly want to stick around. No one else was around for me to see if you were human or not. Which you aren't." She glanced at Supergirl, who grinned.

"Quite a lot of us are. Me, Bats, GL, and plenty of others up here are human," Flash told her. "You should probably go back there, though," he added, trying to be responsible.

She stared at him. "How long have I been up here?"

"About a five days, I'd guess," he said, counting the days on his fingers.

Ellie hesitated slightly and rocked back onto her heels, wincing slightly at the weight she put on her leg. "I'm fine." She scowled at his smug look.

"I didn't say anything," he laughed, stepping backwards. He waved his hands in a gesture of peace.

Supergirl sent a glare at him before floating forward. "There anything you need? Because we can't just leave you here, wandering around the 'Tower."

Flash smirked. "Basically, surrender or…I would say 'die trying', but that doesn't seem appropriate." He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Ellie rolled her eyes before stepping forwards and extending one arm, the other hand still in her pocket. "Take me to your leader," she said dramatically.

Flash darted forwards and picked her up, enjoying the startled look on her face. "You mind if I carry you? It'll be quicker." Supergirl followed him as he zipped off without waiting for Ellie's answer, heading towards the monitor room.

She wrapped a hand around his neck as they moved through the corridors at break-neck speed. It was amazing how exhilarating it was, even though her eyes were beginning to water from the stinging wind. Flash burst through the doors, a cheeky grin gracing his face. "Yo, Bats, look what I found." He deposited her on the floor, steadying her as she swayed slightly.

Batman spun around in his chair, J'onn phasing into the room at the same time. "What?" His tone irritated. "Who is this?"

Ellie had folded her arms across her chest and was now staring at him. He glared at her and she flinched. "Ellie," she said shortly, amazed at the fear she felt just looking at him. His scowl deepened.

"Yeah. She was wandering around the corridors. Thought she'd been kidnapped and was trying to escape," Flash explained.

"Who is she? You never mentioned anything about us having a civilian onboard."

"She's not a civilian. The Titans had been protecting her for about three weeks from various attacks. They got injured, couldn't defend her, and dropped her onto us. Except there seems to be no reason for them to attack her." His voice sounded slightly bitter. "Remember?"

Ellie used the discussion to get a good look at the people who Nightwing had apparently asked to protect her. Batman was dark, bitter, perhaps because of a bad past. The gadgets she had heard he had would no doubt need a lot of money to create and supply suggesting that he might have a nice supply of money tucked up somewhere.

The alien man appeared probing, his red eyes staring at her strangely. She recalled some story of a shape changer who was one of the Founding Members, and how Beast Boy had proclaimed they were buddies because they were both green.

Supergirl seemed nice, perhaps a little flighty and a suggestion of a temper as the glare she was directing at Flash increased. She was unsure how Supergirl could possibly have a secret identity, though Superman was the same – no mask, yet he managed to blend in. Possibly glasses were used, an exaggerated trait such as clumsiness, and a change of hairstyle could be the trick. Or else their friends weren't the most perceptive bunch.

Flash was the one who interested her most. She wasn't blind. He was built well, and the mask, like Batman, left her unable to figure out anything to do with secret identities. The costume wasn't particularly expensive looking and he had no gadgets, relying on his speed in battle. Unlike Batman, he probably didn't have a lot of money, though she doubted he was poor. Ellie had seen an advertisement involving him a couple of years back, which would have left him with some cash. He was slightly cocky, but his demeanor was pleasant and he seemed to have a reasonable sense of humor, from what she could hear with the argument with the Batman.

She was a bit startled at the distrust Batman was showing. She had no particular skills that would be able to damage them, and she had no interest in hurting the people who were protecting her from the unknown. The green alien was still appraising her, his stare unwavering. It felt like he was reaching into the very depths of her mind, searching for some hidden answer to the questions that were plaguing the Bat.

"Batman, the other Founders should be alerted to this new development. Flash and Supergirl, look after our guest until you are needed," J'onn spoke up, his voice quiet but strong.

"I'll take you to the cafeteria. They have some great food there and I am starving," Flash declared, picking her up bridal style again.

"You don't need to carry me, you know."

He smiled charmingly down at her. "This is for my benefit rather than yours. The faster we get there, the quicker I can eat." He sped off, Supergirl's moans about how they had already eaten falling on deaf ears.

"She appears to have no malicious intent, though there is a barrier within her mind which I cannot pass with alerting her." Batman frowned and looked over at him.

"Is that normal?"

"No," J'onn said, as he continued to regard the empty corridor. "It is not."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

"Flash, you ate half an hour ago. How can you still be hungry?" Supergirl cried, frowning at the enormous amount of food on his tray.

"Super fast metabolism. You should know that by now, SG."

"SG?"

"Your name's too long." He looked over at Ellie. "Here you go." He dropped a tray in front of her and sat down, the food in front of him almost blocking his face. Flash scoffed the food down, only slowing as he saw Ellie stare at him incredulously. "What?" He mumbled, his mouth still full of food.

"You could so beat the Guinness World Record. Though you probably have an advantage over everybody else," She said, taking a bite out of the burger in front of her.

"How can you not be disgusted?" Supergirl asked in surprise.

"He eats so fast you can't see anything. As long as I don't end up with a gob of food on me, I'm fine."

Flash continued to eat, before settling back and burping. Ellie snickered as Supergirl rolled her eyes.

"How come nobody told us about Ellie, anyway?" Supergirl asked.

He shrugged. "Supes didn't want anyone worrying, I guess. Also, if you tell too many people it could slip out and put people in danger." He turned his attention to Ellie. "What do you last remember?"

Ellie put down her burger and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It's a bit fuzzy actually. I remember being attacked in the bathroom at my school, then an explosion pretty clearly. My leg was on fire, I think. The rest of it is like I was blacking out." She twisted her leg around so she could see the back of it. "It's all shiny and white," Ellie said, startled. "From what the Docs said the blast damaged a lot of muscle – if I remember right they said they were going to put you on physical therapy once you woke up."

Flash glanced at her, a grin settling on his face as he noticed she was now poking her leg curiously. "You look like a little kid."

Supergirl jumped in with a retort before Ellie could come up with anything, so she continued to stare at her leg as they bickered. The scar encompassed the back of her calf from the back of her knee to just above her ankle. It was a much lighter color to the rest of her skin, as well as slightly puckered. In different lights it appeared to be shining, reminding her of the scars on her face. Shaking it off, she picked up her burger and watched in amusement as Supergirl began griping at Flash about whipped cream. He looked suitably cowed, looking around nervously at the other occupants of the cafeteria, who were snickering slightly.

"If people aren't meant to know about me, shouldn't we be somewhere where they can't seem me?" she said, her voice low. "I've finished eating so we should probably…go."

"Right, let's get out of here." Once more she was in Flash's arms, annoyed that he'd managed to startle her again. "You coming, SG?"

The girl in question scowled before floating up and shooting off. "You coming or not?"

Flash headed off after her, navigating the corridors with ease. They rushed past a couple of people, who shouted complaints as they were almost lifted off the floor by the rush of air, but arrived the speedster managed to arrive outside the medical bay in ten seconds. Flash started pounding on the door as soon as he had put Ellie down. "Yo docs, it's Flash. I think you misplaced something," He called through.

The door slid open and a small man, with a balding head and large brown beard glared up at through a pair of round glasses.

"Doc Roberts, great to see you again. I think you mislaid a patient. But don't worry, we took good care of her, didn't we, SG?"

Supergirl nodded before prodding Ellie forwards.

"No one's reported anyone missing," the doctor said, glaring up at them. "But you look like the girl with the shattered hand Doctor Marth operated on. I'll contact a nurse to check. How long have you been out?" His voice softened slightly.

"About an hour, give or take. I had lunch, so…"

Nodding, Doctor Roberts disappeared, appearing about a minute later. "I'm going to fire the idiot who was looking after you," he said sulkily, opening the door fully. "Come in, you really shouldn't be out and about with your injuries."

"I'm fine. I just came so that there wasn't a worry or anything. I've got through an hour without-" She looked at Flash before amending her statement, "with only a little help."

"I'm sorry but we can't let you wonder around without a check up to make sure you aren't aggravating your injuries. And of course after that we need clearance from one of the Founders."

"One of the Founders?" she asked, slightly puzzled.

"I'll vouch for her." Flash said, his voice filled with an authority that didn't match the grin on his face. "I'm one of the Founders, so you can't exactly keep her in if she passes the medical." Doctor Roberts looked like he was about to object. He scowled, before turning around and walking off, indicating they should follow him. When Flash went forwards to pick her up, she shook her head before shuffling forwards.

"Lean on me," Supergirl said softly. Ellie looked at her gratefully and they continued walking. The check up room wasn't a particularly long walk, though it seemed to be for Flash, who was used to getting everywhere quickly. He remained bored, as the Doctor went through a series of tests to test her mental and physical ability.

Though it was obvious that she was in a lot of pain, he seemed satisfied and told her that she had to have physical therapy every day until she could walk without pain. Flash went off to collect the bag from her room and headed back as Supergirl and Ellie were leaving the room. They all left the med bay, walking slowly to accommodate her. Once they were outside the med bay, she stopped and turned to him.

"You can carry me now," Ellie said with a grin, holding in a small shriek as he shot forwards.

* * *

They stopped off at the monitoring bay. "Hey, Bats, do you where Wonder Woman is?"

"She's on a mission. Why?" The answer contained the same menace as always.

"Do you know where that room that she organized for Ellie is?" Supergirl was now carrying the bag and had settled on the floor.

"No," he ground out.

"Do you know who does?" Supergirl asked after a moment's silence.

"No."

Flash looked over at Supergirl in concern. "I guess we'll just have to try every room until we find it," she said with a grin.

Batman swung around. "Ask J'onn. And stop bothering me," he barked before turning away again. They disappeared, and headed towards J'onn's usual headquarters. They skidded to a halt to find Superman in there, talking intently to him.

"Supes!" Flash called jubilantly. Superman turned, surprised to find a girl in his arms. "Flash, Kara. And…"

"Ellie," she said, relinquishing her hold around Flash's neck and depositing herself on the floor, wincing only slightly as she shifted her weight. "It's nice to meet you." He looked over at Flash questioningly.

"It's nice to meet you, too. J'onn was just telling me that you had woken up, but I didn't expect you to be out and about already."

"I got released after a check up."

"Do you know where her room is, Clark?" Supergirl asked before he could make Ellie feel any more self-conscious.

"Room 21, I think. It's a single up on corridor A5."

"Thanks. We're going to get her settled in. She is staying here for a while, right?" Flash asked.

"We need to have a meeting about that. Diana and Shayera should be returning soon, so once you're done, go to the meeting room," Superman said uncomfortably.

Nodding, the trio headed off yet again.

"He didn't seem particularly happy," Ellie pointed out.

"It's weird. I can understand Bats, but Supes is like a Boy Scout. Just in blue spandex." Flash frowned beneath his mask.

"Even J'onn seemed a little awkward. And I know he's usually quiet, but he hasn't said anything, both times we've turned up." Supergirl said, sounding slightly puzzled.

"The situation is pretty strange, though. I mean I met you both an hour ago and we're already acting like old friends," Ellie said as Flash slowed down.

"I guess we're just compatible," Flash shrugged, grinning. Shoving open the door, Supergirl dumped Ellie's bag on a chair. The room was simple with a double bed, a desk, bookcase and bedside table with a lamp on it. The walls were purple, the floor silver, and the window looked down onto Earth.

"Wow," she breathed, staring out into the darkness of space. "It's gorgeous."

"You'll get used to it after a while." Flash grinned. "I have to go, though. I'll come back after the meeting and we can go have some dinner. It's four now, so if I don't turn up in about two hours, I'll send Supergirl."

Ellie smiled as she slowly sat down on the bed and waved goodbye.

"You know what I find weird?" Supergirl asked as they headed off.

Flash looked back at her quizzically, slowing down to walking pace. "What?"

"You didn't hit on her. Not once. You've hit on practically every good-looking girl you've ever met. And I know she's not gorgeous, but she's cute and nice and actually laughs at your jokes." She smirked at him. "You off your game, Wally?"

He paused, mouth open in shock. "Excuse me, but I'm a stud. So, no, I'm not off my game, thank you very much. And I didn't hit on her because…because…" He frowned. "Because she had a bad experience and I'm nice. So there." He stuck out his tongue at her before disappearing off the corner.

"That is such a crap excuse!" she shouted after him.

* * *

Flash barged into the room, to find that Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman still weren't there. "Hey GL." Flash slipped into his seat.

"Hotshot, what's this I hear about you carrying around the new girl?" John said, frowning slightly.

"She was having trouble walking." Flash shrugged, turning around as both of the female Founders walked in. They slipped into their seats without a word before turning to Superman.

"Why were we called, Clark?"

Superman sat down, breaking off from conversation with Batman. "The girl that Nightwing dropped off – Elizabeth Clark, has woken up. I know that we agreed to take her in, but Bruce remains suspicious from the lack of evidence and J'onn found there is a block in her mind."

Flash glanced over at the Martian. "You read her mind without permission?"

"I was merely looking for any signs of malicious intent towards the Justice League. Bruce had asked me earlier to look once she woke up," he explained, regarding Flash with unblinking eyes.

Flash looked away first, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of J'onn poking around in Ellie's mind.

"When did you go to the medical bay?" Hawkgirl asked him.

"Flash and Supergirl brought her to the monitoring area," J'onn answered, his voice quiet. The two women glanced over at him in surprise.

Flash shifted uncomfortably. "We found her walking around the corridors – she thought she'd been kidnapped and was trying to get out."

"That seems a bit suspicious, especially with the injury to her leg."

Flash would have glared at Batman if he hadn't already been scowling. "She told us that she left because she thought it would be better to hide then for the bad guys to turn up and do more damage to her. Except obviously there weren't any bad guys."

"Still seems suspicious." Hawkgirl leaned back in her chair.

"Nightwing seemed to trust her. If he's your ex-sidekick, shouldn't you trust his judgment?" Wonder Woman said.

Batman scowled at her slightly. "There is no reason for her to be under attack. And why did they change from killing to capturing? It makes no sense."

Green Lantern sighed. "That doesn't mean she's a bad guy. Lots of things don't make sense to us, such as mindless killing, but people still do it." He turned his attention to Flash. "Do you think she should stay?" he asked him.

"Definitely. She's nice and she didn't try to get any information out of us, so there's no point in her being here, especially if she's just human." Flash looked over at J'onn.

"I detected no superpowers within in her," he acknowledged.

Superman sighed. "If she does stay here we need to organize things. You said that she is doing 5 exams for Grade 11, right?" he asked Batman, who nodded. "That means she needs to attend school. We need to keep her busy with other things. Since the Tower has never accommodated anyone 24/7, only those who aren't going on missions, we're not particularly equipped. Bruce, could you get her a tutor? Until her injuries are healed, she won't be able to go down to Earth, and I'm not sure if we could send her down then either, especially if as many people are after her as the Titans say." He looked over at them. "Alright, meeting over. We should probably tell everyone about her staying, so they know to look after her."

"I shall alert the rest of the Watchtower to her stay. I am sure those who are not here will learn through gossip." J'onn left, heading towards the communications centre.

Wonder Woman dragged Batman out, his face in a perpetual frown, while Green Lantern and Hawkgirl followed Flash, who was already dashing off around the corner. Superman himself, headed towards the monitoring bay, wanting to see if there was any missions he could go on. Right now, he needed a distraction. Batman's consistent bad mood was worse than usual, and just thinking about it was giving him a headache. Perhaps they were being overly cautious, but all the same, he hoped they were placing their trust in the right place. They didn't need any more stress placed upon them right now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

Ellie wheeled herself out of the room. The med bay staff had given her a wheelchair, to allow her quicker access around the place. She attended physical therapy every day now, and was slowly becoming quicker and feeling less pain as the wounds continued to heal, but it still took her ages to get anywhere. Therefore, the wheelchair. Flash and Supergirl, who she was becoming more and more attached too, were out on missions and so she was bored. She had found herself in the company of Stargirl a number of times, as well as Green Arrow and Black Canary, no doubt having been asked by Flash and Supergirl. But there was some large crisis down on Earth, which no one had told her about. For a moment she found herself itching to grab her computer and just get it over with, but she'd promised herself she wouldn't. For now, anyway.

The corridors were at a slight slant, which helped when she was going down, but made it difficult for her to make it back up to her room. But the boredom had become too much and eventually she decided the difficulty was worth it if she could find something to do. So she ended up in the monitoring room, startled at the fact that a supposed Founder wasn't helping out in the chaos that was apparently below.

"Shouldn't you be down with the others?" she asked.

He didn't appear startled, his motion slow and fluid as he turned to regard her. "My services were not needed," he answered. There was a silence that seemed slightly uncomfortable, but settled.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know your name. We never did get introduced," she said politely, smiling up at the green man. His blue cloak was billowing around him.

"My name is J'onn J'onnz. I am from the planet Mars."

"Nice to meet you, J'onn." He continued to look at her, his gaze seeming to penetrate her very thoughts. For a minute she wondered if he was actually doing that, looking into the very depths of her heart. She felt an almost irrational fear, but it was gone as his gaze shifted back to the monitor. She took the moment of silence to take him in.

Though cliché, there seemed to be an aura of loneliness around him. He was quiet, though the authority within his words made up for it. A thought, an acknowledgement of his past perhaps, appeared, a slight bafflement at his decision to come to Earth, where there were none like him, instead of staying on the planet where there were many.

"I am the last of my kind," came the voice, invading her thoughts. "I came to Earth to warn of a great danger and stayed, creating a new family within the Justice League."

"Did you just read my mind?" Ellie asked, shock filling her words.

"I do not do it often. It is a talent. But your thoughts are slightly…loud." J'onn said, frowning before turning to her. "Do you often take time to create images of people without talking to them?" he asked her, the question filling the otherwise silent room. She hunched down into the chair, still near the doorway, feeling slightly invaded. It wasn't as though he was listening in on purpose, but there was a reason she didn't speak these thoughts out loud.

"I suppose. It's a habit. My aunt was a psychologist. If my parents couldn't pick me up from school or anything, she'd come round. She was my favorite part of the family," Ellie said, smiling slightly. "She'd take us to this little café and buy us some ice cream. Then she'd go and have a small chat with someone, or just look at them, and she seemed to know everything about them. I always tried to be like her, and eventually I picked up on the little things.

"For instance, Flash has this nervous habit. When he hasn't eaten in a while, his whole body shakes, just a little bit. And Supergirl will always sit at the same table in the cafeteria. If it's full she won't sit anywhere else, she'll just go back later. People have weird little habits, which if you look hard enough, you can pick up. Me, I'm always clenching my fingers to make them crack, without actually cracking the knuckles."

She couldn't tell if he actually cared or not, with no sign of interest on his face. She felt slightly nervous. It was silly, perhaps a little vain, but she did care what people thought of her in both appearance and personality. Everyone had their little masks, but J'onn could get behind the mask. She wondered if he's noticed how Flash wasn't as stupid as some people made out, and how Supergirl found it difficult coping with her own strength. No doubt he had. But she wasn't the mind reader here, and unless he gave up the information, she doubted she would find out.

"So you are perceptive." He broke the silence, and his eyes seemed to have softened, the voice not as emotionless as before.

"I had the training. It just takes a bit of time to find out stuff. If my brain worked at light speed like Flash's does, it might help." J'onn nodded slightly at her words as he listened. "So…what's happening that needs so many heroes?" she asked him quietly.

"There has been a large prison breaches, resulting in a number of civilian injuries as well as the robbery of a number of high technological weapons. There was cause for concern, especially as Lex Luthor broke out of prison. The rest of the Founders are worried he might go after Flash." His eyes reverted back to the screen.

"Why? Is he like his mortal enemy or something? Because I thought that was just in comic books, when you always have this one guy who always comes back to fight the same superhero. It gets a bit boring after a while."

"Luthor is Superman's 'mortal enemy', if that definition is correct. But Flash defeated Luthor about a month ago, destroying something very important to Luthor." He hesitated. "There has been concerns as to Flash's health afterwards, but he has held his own and continues to go on missions." He looked over at her, his face emotionless once more, matching his monotone voice. "You should ask Flash for details. I am sure he will be willing to tell you."

It sounded like a dismissal, and she didn't want to annoy him. Usually she would have pestered whoever it was, verging on the side of annoying, but she did not know him, and he had this kind of finality around him. "It was nice talking to you," she said softly, before wheeling out the area backwards, the wheels catching on the doorway for a moment, jolting her before she got it under control.

As she disappeared, J'onn relaxed, feeling slightly sorry for the girl, the boredom rolling off her in waves. According to Batman, she could possibly be finding information about the League to use against them. Yet within that simple conversation, she had revealed more about herself, babbling on about her previous life. Perhaps she was just lonely. Like him, she had no true family, and unlike him, she had a world full of people just like her to remind her of what she had lost.

* * *

They had caught as many as they could, but in the end it was inevitable that some would escape. It was like a surge, hundreds of villains of high risk, escaping because some idiot had thought it sensible to not call in the League when transferring them, all at the same time. Flash had found moments within it terrifying, not because of the masses but because of the power within in himself.

There were times when he had come so close to it, could feel the Speed Force surrounding him, telling him to go faster, keep going on and on until he couldn't stop. Then he would have to slow down, and one of the others would yell at him, how could you let him get away, or he'd sustain an injury and another would glare at him, this is no time to be mucking around. It was getting a little easier each time, controlling his speed becoming something more of a habit. But there were still those times, when he wasn't wisecracking or heckling the bad guy, when he almost wanted to go faster, and not just so he could catch him.

Eventually he'd get up, send a bad quip and be on his way, flirting with the good looking girls and mocking the others. It was his way to break the tension, especially after a particularly vicious fight like this. Superman was storming around, an angry look on his face even as he helped move a pillar to allow some ambulance men access to a woman under it. Luthor had gotten away, but not before taking a few shots at Flash. The look of anger on Luthor's face, and the fact that at points he could have sworn the guy was talking to thin air, wasn't exactly helping matters. He'd basically ignored Superman in his quest to get revenge for taking away Brainiac, and every moment that Luthor came after him, it was like a reminder of the Speed Force all over again.

Flash shook it off and headed towards Superman. Vigilante waved at him as he passed, before Supergirl landed directly in front of him. She settled down and frowned. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice cautious as she smiled over at Gypsy.

"I'm fine. I was barely injured compared to some guys. But I can tell you one thing. Doctor. Light's gonna think twice before turning out the lights." He snickered slightly before quieting at Supergirl's glare. "How was she supposed to know that stopping her attack would give Shadow a chance? She didn't even know he was there." His face looked sour.

"If that had happened to me you would have laughed and said it was my own fault." She stared at him pointedly.

"It usually is." Flash scowled.

"Not always. Some of the time maybe. But you're not perfect either, so nuh."

He pulled down the skin under one eye and stuck out his tongue, before pressing his comm. link. "Mr. T, one way ticket please." He grinned, disappearing just as Supergirl lunged for him. Supergirl appeared next to him a few seconds later. "You going to see Ellie, too?" Flash asked as he hopped off the platform.

"Yeah. She's probably been really bored – basically every League member was at the break-out area." She followed him as he raced off towards Ellie's room. J'onn stepped out in front of them, causing Flash to put on the brakes, skidding along the floor.

"Hey, J'onn." Supergirl smiled.

He inclined his head towards them. "Your friend Elizabeth is in the cafeteria if you are looking for her. She is…interesting." He paused, his eyes staring off into space.

"When did you talk to her?" Flash asked puzzled.

"She came to the monitoring area. She is quite perceptive in her own way, but a little impatient, and easily bored." J'onn phased through the floor and disappeared, as Flash and Supergirl changed directions. The cafeteria was empty, but they could hear the voices coming from the kitchen area. The door slid open at their command to find Ellie in her wheelchair watching the kitchen staff cooking.

"Hey," she said, her eyes brightening. "They're teaching me how to cook."

"Why?"

"I was bored. And I can't cook." She shrugged, the casualness stiff and formal. "It was nice meeting you." She smiled at the cooks, who waved at her cheerfully. Supergirl wheeled her out as Flash grabbed some snacks from the snack bar. "Cooking is so boring." Ellie complained as soon as they were out of the cafeteria.

"So why were you there?" Supergirl asked, looking amused.

"I was more bored by myself. They had some pretty good gossip, though." She noticed their stares and shrugged. "Apparently you blab a lot when you're in the cafeteria. And I heard about you proclaiming yourself a stud, by the way. Very mature." She held back a grin at the rejected look on Flash's face.

Supergirl frowned slightly before turning to them. "Superman wants me back. I'll talk to you later." She smiled before flying off, heading to the teleport pads.

"Guess it's just you and me." Flash headed up to her room and pushed her in, sliding down the wall as she sat on the bed. "Your leg still hurt?" he asked, concern threaded through his words. "Not nearly as much. I'll apparently be able to walk with minimal pain in a couple of days. Which is good, because a week in a wheelchair and I'm already sick of it." She flopped back onto the bed and stared out the window. "It must be hard keeping your attention on one specific thing."

"What do you mean?" His gaze fastened onto her.

"You said that your brain works at light speed, right?" Ellie propped herself up on her elbows, allowing her to see him nod. "Well then, doesn't that mean you can listen to loads of different stuff. Boredom must be a real problem for you because eventually there's just going to be nothing for you to do or think about. And you think faster than anybody, so you have a shorter attention span, meaning people think you aren't as smart as you actually are." She became silent, staring into the eyes of the mask.

"I guess." His voice was uncertain before a grin appeared on his lips. "Now really isn't the time to get all deep, Ellie. I had that problem after Luthor tried beating me up."

"Because you destroyed something precious that belonged to him?" she asked. His eyes widened slightly.

"I wouldn't call it precious…it's complicated." He averted his eyes as she continued to stare. "Well, he combined with this super evil computer called Brainiac. Wanted to digitize everything and gain ultimate knowledge. I went slam, bam, and thank you ma'am, then tada! The Brainthor relationship is no more."

"Why are they concerned about your health, then? The other Founders, that is," she supplied at his puzzled look. Flash shifted, uncomfortable at being reminded of this. "To stop him, I had to go faster then…light, I guess. I tuned into something called the 'Speed Force' and…" He hesitated, before looking into her eyes. "It tried to suck me into it afterwards. The others ended up pulling me out, but for a moment…" His eyes became unfocused, staring off into the unknown. "For a moment I wanted to stay. It was the ultimate. All you did was run, like a speeder's heaven, I guess. Not that I believe in God. It was just…"

He shrugged and looked away, uncomfortable at having revealed that fact. Once he'd gotten his head around everything, remembering that longing for inner peace seemed selfish, as well as his anger at the others for pulling him out. He made a point never to think about it around J'onn in case he read his mind, though the guy was pretty good at leaving things well enough alone.

He was startled when Ellie's face appeared in front of him, a warm smile gracing her face. "Thanks for sharing," she said. "Now you need to get out so I can do some of that awful coursework Mr. Dee sent me."

He grinned before jumping up. "You need any help over to the desk?" he asked, not wanting to dent her pride. He cringed slightly when she saw the shadow of stubbornness grace her face, but he was grateful when she nodded her head. "That would be great, thanks."

He picked her up and slipped her into the chair, the funky looking laptop already on. It slightly freaked him out actually, considering she carried it almost everywhere as though it was an extension of herself. He let himself out, the tapping of the keys filling the area before he did, leaving him wondering what exactly she was doing. He shook it off. It was weird how much they had bonded in just over a week, but he looked forward to seeing her, and talking about the past. Perhaps it was because of the fact that she was an outsider, or maybe it was just because she seemed to understand the little things. It didn't really matter in the end. There was a bond, that he was pretty sure would soon be unbreakable.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

**AN: Thank you very much to my wonderful new beta Miles 333, whose helped me out a lot :D**

* * *

"When did we get a library?" Flash asked John.

"We've always had it. Most of the books have already been taken down to the embassy, but there are still some up there," John said, floating down towards the teleport pads. "And don't you have a civilian job to get to?"

"I'm using some of my vacation time to help get Ellie settled. She's only been here a week and she doesn't really know many other people." He leaned over the railings. "I'd really appreciate it if you would go see her, GL. She can get pretty bored up here all by herself."

John frowned. "I don't really know her well enough to go have a "chat" with her."

"That's the point in talking. So you can get to know her. And J'onn likes her, but he's always busy in the monitoring bay and stuff. Then Bats is creepy enough most of the time and he keeps glaring, so he's a no go. I'm asking the others soon, and it's not like you have to be up there for ages. Just enough to introduce yourself, have a chat, the works." Flash pouted slightly.

"I'll see what I can do. But I'm not promising anything, Wally. I'm pretty busy at the moment." With that he nodded at one of the interns, before travelling to his pre-set co-ordinations.

Flash smiled gleefully before shooting off to find Shayera. "Ralph, have you seen Shayera?" he asked, staring down at Elongated Man, who was currently tied up in knots.

"Wonder Woman's a bit stressy." Ralph squeaked, slipping out of another knot. "And Shayera was in her room last time I checked. It's got the no entry sign on it, so I'm not sure if you'll have any luck."

"Thanks. I'd untie you, but I'm no good with knots," he said apologetically as he headed off.

The big No Entry was indeed up there. The letters were in red against a black background, bits of the paint having dripped down creating a blood look alike. Flash pushed open the door jauntily, and strutted in, posing dramatically. "Shay darling, pleasure to see you."

"This is my room. What do you want, Wally?" she asked turning away from her desk. He leaned against the door way as he regarded the tired-looking Thanagarian. "I need to ask a teensy little favor."

Rolling her eyes, she turned away. "I'm not lending you anymore money, if that's what you came for."

"While I feel slightly offended at your belief that I am a money stealer, I actually came to ask if you'd visit Ellie for a bit."

Her hand stilled over the letter on her desk. "Why?" Her voice was cool.

"She gets pretty lonely when me and Kara aren't around and it would be great for her to meet some of the other Founders. She's met J'onn who told me himself that she's nice so you have nothing to fear. Really, you should trust it on my judgment – have I ever led you wrong?" He shook his hands in front of his face at her glare. "Okay, don't answer that. But Ellie's smart and deserves some of our respect. She won't be getting any from Bats anytime soon."

"Fine. Why don't you introduce me now? I probably need to get out of my room anyway." She sighed, stuffing her pen into a penholder and standing up. The brilliant smile on Flash's face let her know that she had made the right choice as she followed him out, leaving the No Entry sign in place.

"Ellie!" he called, banging on her door.

"You walk into everybody else's room. Why not this one?" Shayera muttered to him, waiting for the door to open. The blank look on his face created a picture of innocence so she just left it. The door slid open revealing the illustrious Ellie, demure in a black wheelchair. Shayera was actually quite surprised that Flash had taken such a liking to her. She was cute but nothing particularly special to look at, and Flash was basically obsessed with women with model potential, his quests for Wonder Women and Fire proving that. But her face seemed to light up as she smiled, leaving her with a feeling of warmth.

"Flash! That was pretty good timing." Ellie cocked her head, staring at the winged woman. "You must be Shayera. It's really nice to meet you." She held out her hand, unsurprised at the firm grip, but still wincing slightly. She was only human, and a human without superpowers at that.

Flash zipped in and pulled Ellie back into the room and in front of the desk before beckoning for Shayera to join. "I brought Shay to keep you amused for a bit, 'cause I have some work I have to do down in Central City. You going to be okay here?" he asked, concern evident on his face.

For a minute Shayera thought he was talking to her before she realized it was directed at the young girl in the wheelchair. It was quite touching really, considering how they had only known each other for a week and a bit. The smile was apparently enough, because he disappeared in a gust of wind, leaving them alone.

The room was pretty empty, though that was to be expected considering Ellie couldn't go out shopping and buy decorations. "It must have been pretty hard choosing between Thanagar and Earth," came a voice, startling her out of her thoughts.

"What?" She was startled, the bluntness of the question confusing her.

"Everybody knows about the Thanagar invasion. And from what I heard from Flash, you saved everybody. That was really brave." Ellie's voice was warm, her eyes almost glowing.

"I just did what I thought was right."

Ellie shrugged and immediately went on to ask her about her life. It was amazing how easily Shayera settled down. She found herself slipping, talking about her pain regarding John and Vixen. Ellie was a good listener, showing the right emotions and reactions, encouraging her to continue. In turn, she listened as Ellie revealed parts of her old life, teasing her slightly about the developing relationship with Flash. Shayera was slightly surprised when she blushed. She hadn't been serious with it though Ellie denied everything, saying that she thought he was attractive but otherwise a good friend.

She wasn't prepared for when the door opened to reveal John. Dressed in his Green Lantern costume, his green eyes were flashing, astonishment clearly shown as they landed on her. "Sorry, Flash told me to come introduce myself after my mission." He was still staring at Shayera. Things had been slightly awkward what with Vixen, but they were careful around each other, preparing for each encounter. This had thrown both of them off.

"It's nice to meet you. I was just chatting to Shayera." The distraction caused John to switch his gaze between them before nodding his head.

"I'm John." He shuffled uncomfortably outside, bringing his gaze to the floor.

"The Green Lantern?"

Nodding stiffly, he stepped forwards into the room, allowing the door to close again behind him. He was almost surprised when Ellie's eyes glinted. "So…" Her voice was quiet and sounded slightly amused. "You got any embarrassing stories about Flash you could tell me?"

The two superheroes both smirked.

"There was this one time…"

* * *

Clark frowned. The Trebro case was definitely one of the most interesting, but the hassle of trying to figure out how he was getting the drugs into the country was becoming an annoyance. Lois had already discovered something, and while he was up to date with everything, he had seen how his boss kept scowling at him. An increase in missions meant the Justice League was spread out too thin, and Superman was needed more and more. And always during work hours. He kept having to ask for vacation time, meaning Lois kept getting the reports, leaving him with less information and therefore less articles.

Clark heard her saunter up to him, so when Lois leaned against the desk it wasn't exactly a surprise. He paused in his typing to glance up at her. "Something you need, Lois?"

She smirked and smoothed down her black skirt. "Did you hear about the Justice League?" He adjusted his glasses slightly before shaking his head. "According to my sources, they've got someone up there whose been placed in the Omega Protection Category."

He froze for an instant, before squinting up at her. "The Omega Protection Category? I don't think that's even a real part of the League, Lois."

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. They don't take just anybody up to the 'Tower, and from what reports say, not only has the person been up there for at least a week, they're also human. No superpowers."

Clark shook his head. "Whoever your 'source' is, they're obviously slightly deluded. Only the League members are allowed up there, and you've got to have security clearance. And if that is true, then the League obviously has a reason," he said, his voice matter of fact.

"I think the public will want to hear about it – not only is it interesting, it brings up a lot of questions such as why they've got her up there."

"For one, if we publish it, then their safety could be compromised. If they wanted everybody to know they would have told us. And how do you know it's a girl? The way you were speaking I thought you didn't know."

Lois smirked. "You'll be surprised by what I know." She turned and walked over to her desk, slipping on her jacket and picking up her bag. "I'm heading home. You coming?" she called over her shoulder.

"I need to catch up on some work."

She shrugged and walked out, letting the door of the office swing shut. Alone, Clark wondered how information was getting out. He'd told all League members who had met Elizabeth that it was on a strict need-to-know basis. Which meant it had to be one of the workers. Sighing, he picked up his phone and dialed the familiar number.

He answered on the third ring. "What?"

"I have a feeling one of the workers at the Tower went and slipped about Elizabeth."

Clark could almost see him scowl. "Idiots."

"Bruce…"

"I'll check it out." The phone clicked off at the same time as one of the employees turned out the lights. Clark stared out of the large windows, the phone still pressed against his ear. Flash had already bothered him a bit about meeting the girl. It was about time he did. After all, Ma and Pa Kent had brought him up to be respectable and polite. Hefting himself up, he dropped his phone in his bag and looked over Metropolis again. Hopefully it hadn't gotten any further than Lois. If it got to the villains looking for her… He shook his head. Bruce was on the case. He just had to worry about Lex now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

* * *

It was 12.36 according to the digital clock, the electric green color bright in the darkness. The only other light came from the glow of the stars, the Earth clear as she stared out of her window. She'd found herself unable to sleep, tossing and turning all night. There was no movement outside her room, no noise to distract her, no lights on to slip through the cracks of her door. Yet still she was here, wide awake, thoughts running through her head.

Should she? She'd been itching to every time she was alone for the past two weeks. Her legs had healed enough that she was walking normally, and her left hand was nearly fine. Raven had healed that more than her leg because there was cause for concern in case part of the shattered bone worked its way into a blood vessel. Supergirl kept accusing her of being jittery, bouncing up and down, her moods changing continually.

It wasn't like it hurt anyone. She'd been trained to do it – shouldn't she practice her talent? She groaned and turned over, burying her face into her pillow. What was stopping her anyway? In fact, if it meant that she wouldn't be so moody, wasn't that good thing? Supergirl wouldn't get so annoyed, and she'd able to finally relax after over a month of waiting. Ellie kicked back the covers and slid out of bed, pulling down her pajama top in the process, embarrassed even though she was alone.

She crept over to her desk and slid into the seat opening her computer. It turned on automatically, chiming as it did so. She winced, expecting someone to rush into her room demanding what was going on. When nothing happened she typed in the password and waited patiently as it logged on.

"Facial Recognition Requested," blinked onto the screen. She sat far enough away that her face filled the facial shape onscreen, and then came forwards as the familiar background of her family appeared. She smiled before leaning down and rummaging through her bag, producing a lightning bolt shaped memory stick. It had been her little brother Jamie's before she'd stolen it off him. He'd been dead two days later.

Sticking it into the computer, she grasped the already-attached mouse and clicked onto the that blinked onto the screen. She typed in the 20-character password and watched as the program appeared. "What should it be today?" Ellie muttered pausing over the search bar. She typed in Level Alert and watched as around thirty names appeared. Seventeen of them were already highlighted green, so had been placed at the bottom. The remaining thirteen were ordered from most difficult and down. She had been working from the easiest Level Alert and gone from there but she was confident in her skills as she had devoted much of her time to creating programs as well as following through with the tests her father had given her.

One name popped out at her. Bruce Wayne had recently been in the newspaper, having donated some money to Gotham's Children Charity. From what she'd read he was regarded as a charming playboy who was slightly obnoxious and a heavy partier. Which meant he definitely didn't need a Level Alert Computer Protection. Unless…

"What secrets are you hiding, Mr. Wayne?" He was fourth from the top, meaning he'd be difficult. She didn't recognize any of the names – it was luck she'd even remembered Bruce Wayne, though she thought it was probably to do with Flash, who had been blabbering on a mile a minute about some of Wayne's better known exploits. She bypassed the password and firewalls easily. For someone who had Level Alert Protection, the security seemed almost blasé. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Last time the security had been so lax, it had been a trap. She had managed to escape the computer system before it located her but only by the skin of her teeth. Her father had refused to let her do any more until she was more practiced. But that had been a few years ago and she more confident rather than cocky. There was always a weak link within the system.

Bringing up a few files from Bruce Wayne's computer, she quickly established they were fake. Where she had gotten to was nothing but a decoy, designed to keep back all but the most experienced. She went onto Run and typed in a number of codes, which were used to locate any hidden weaknesses. A document was brought up – boring information about tax returns. They didn't appear to be fake, but as Ellie read through, it became clear that there was something hidden in it. The problem was she had no idea what she was looking for. While the numbers seemed ridiculously extravagant and an obvious ploy, there was no connection between them. This wasn't normal hacking – in fact she hadn't faced this problem before. But the OS4 did most of the work – she just had to figure out how to apply her knowledge.

She experimented with a few different numbers into part of the system of the OS4. They rejected it, so she entered MEMB into the database and a new document appeared, all the tax returns in order. So it wasn't the numbers but the actual words… Entering the most common words into the system, she was delighted when it began to process it. It was found that most people used the most complicated words to protect their systems. This meant that most people hacking into databases would go for the complicated words if needed.

But those with security as tight as Mr. Wayne knew this little fact. So she always went for normal words – bubble, light, phone, etc. While the words were a bit more complicated, adding numbers to the data seemed to have worked. A fingerprint recognition appeared. Ellie went back to the Internet and slipped into the IPA – Identity Protection Agency. They had many people on their database, and most celebrities. It was a right of passage – if you didn't get asked by the IPA, then you weren't that big of a star, because you didn't need the protection. Other people didn't even realize that it existed but she'd found it after she'd gotten into the FBI database.

Bruce Wayne's didn't appear. Considering how his parties were meant to be legendary, this was pretty surprising. She shifted back to the previous screen and brought up her fingerprint system. While it was quicker to use the IPA, occasionally she found people who weren't on their files. So the fingerprint system with a few extra pushes from her would be able to create a copy of that person's fingerprint. The keyboard was fingerprint sensitive, meaning only she could use it. It would automatically shut down if anybody else tried. The whole process of changing her own fingerprint into Bruce Wayne's and entering it took around five to ten minutes. Ellie was nervous. She kept hearing noises outside that caused her to freeze. But they all passed, and she entered into the system. From there it was passing the firewalls, virus alerts, and any other sorts of protection.

Most people get their kicks out of exercise. Hacking was what got Ellie's blood pumping. It had become an obsession after her parents' deaths. She'd hide away in the bathroom until someone needed it, her fingers gliding over the keys as she hacked into more and more databases. She started creating her own systems – the fingerprint system had taken her over four and a half months to complete. Half of the hacking was about the computer – since the OS4 was so advanced in technology it made everything simpler. The other half was applying the knowledge and creating systems to help ease the way. Bruce Wayne's hidden part of the computer didn't look particularly interesting.

Until she looked at the documents. One read: JUSTICE LEAGUE INFORMATION.

That was the biggest file. It was also password protected. The others were interesting – she'd looked into them to find details of advanced weaponry, cars, outfits – superhero kind of stuff. Batman stuff. But it was only after figuring out the password that she realized just who Bruce Wayne was. The laughing playboy was the brooding Dark Knight. The perfect disguise.

Batman's name was the only one not on the list. The rest were in order. Clark Kent was Superman. John Stewart was the Green Lantern. Oliver Queen was the Green Arrow.

Wally West was the Flash. Ellie hadn't wanted to know that. It was only after she'd found the Flash that she realized just how much trouble she was in. Flash was her friend. The Green Lantern and the Green Arrow were her friends. She wanted to take everything back. Apparently her secret little habit could hurt people – people who she liked and admired. Finding the identities of superheroes was meant to happen in their own time. And now she knew and she could not ever forget.

She slipped out of the system. Usually she left a mark to tease whoever owned it. But there were tears burning in her eyes. It had seemed like a game before. But the game had never involved people she cared about. What if someone found about this? What if they came after her? What if she let slip? It was slightly silly actually – people were already after her. And it was starting to dawn on her that maybe she hadn't slipped out of these people's systems without them tracking her. Because there was this one memory of a few weeks ago, when she'd been attacked by a street squad. Highly efficient and well trained, the street squads were known to kill or capture for the highest bidder. And right before the leader had been knocked out by Nightwing, he'd stared into her eyes and mouthed something to her.

The word, she realized now, was the reason they were after her.

It was who she was.

And who she now desperately didn't want to be.

Hacker.

* * *

"What's the matter, Flash?" Superman asked, regarding the red-costumed superhero before him. He was hunched over his food, the look on his face speaking of discontent. Supergirl was next to him, staring off into space, while Hawk and Dove were muttering to each other.

"Ellie's avoiding me."

Superman raised his eyebrows. He was feeling slightly guilty because he had sworn to meet the person the League was protecting, but had backed out. Of course, he had been needed on a pretty important mission, but he knew that he was avoiding the issue. It was Bruce's fault, really. Whenever Superman mentioned her, he would glare and scowl, making Superman feel very uncomfortable. He regarded Bruce as a good judge of character, but he had never met the girl and was already acting as though she was a villain. Slightly below the Joker even. "Do you know why?"

"No." The reply was sullen. Even though Flash's head was bowed, Superman was sure that there was a pout forming.

"I don't understand why you don't just go talk to her. You have super speed. It isn't as though you can't find her," Dove said matter-of-factly.

"He just doesn't want things to be awkward. If he rushes in, he could really upset her and then it could be even worse," Supergirl said, placing her face in her hands and leaning forwards. At their surprised looks she looked offended. "What? I can be perceptive, you know."

Superman looked back down at the upset hero. He felt a little uncomfortable. He wasn't known for being able to empathize. He was the polite, in charge type of hero. "Flash, I'm sure she'd appreciate you going to talk to her. In fact, why don't you use me as an excuse? We can go up there now and you can introduce me." He was slightly surprised at how excited Flash looked.

"Supes, that's brilliant! Hank and Don, you're coming to!" he exclaimed, whipping his head around to stare at them.

"Um…why?" Hawk stood up. "We're not a part of this."

"Flash is trying to introduce her to most people in the League. We are part of the League, Hank – therefore we should go and meet her." Don stood up too. "Why don't you lead the way?"

Flash almost bounced off. Supergirl followed, muttering to him about how he was giving her a headache. "Why are you so excited? So Ellie hasn't spoken to you in three days! She hasn't spoken to anyone but her tutor in that time."

"We've been spending loads of time with her over the past two weeks. She isn't the type of person to stop talking to us unless we've done something wrong or she's feeling awkward about something."

"I know that, but that doesn't mean you can just barge into her room."

"Hey! I think I've been pretty discreet. I haven't annoyed her or anything. And I haven't told any jokes. Though that was because I haven't actually seen her, and so couldn't tell her any jokes…" Flash trailed off.

Don jogged up to them, closely followed by Hank. Flash had switched to walking so the others could keep up with him. "Is there anything in particular we should know about her?"

Flash cocked his head. "She can be a bit grouchy if you get her at the wrong time – like early in the morning. Gets bored easily, doesn't like cooking, generally doesn't talk about her time in the orphanage…"

Supergirl picked up where he left off. "Ellie's nice, but don't ask a really stupid question. She can get a bit touchy, especially if you ask a question someone else has already answered. And don't walk slowly when you're with her. It really annoys her. She even has this t-shirt that says, and I quote, 'I really want to punch slow-walking people in the head.' She doesn't like violence," Don grinned at this, "but she isn't a pacifist."

"Basically, if violence is necessary, yada, yada, yada, than go for it," Flash broke in. He banged on the door. "Ellie! It's Flash and Supergirl." A few minutes passed. "Supes?" Flash asked without turning round.

"She's in there."

"Ellie, come on. I know you're in there!"

The door slid open. Ellie was by the desk, the OS4 closed. "Hey, Flash." Her voice was nervous. "What can I do for you?"

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I haven't been avoiding you! I've been busy." She blushed before looking down to the floor.

He stalked in, followed by Supergirl, the others staying outside, uneasy at the thought of intruding.

"Really. I'm sorry." She looked back up at him. "I'm feeling a bit homesick." Flash's face softened. Superman stared. She was still nervous. If she was homesick, why did she look so scared.

"It's okay to miss home. You could have just told me and I wouldn't have barged in or anything. Anyway, I brought more people."

Ellie stood up and hugged Supergirl with one arm, before frowning at him. "I can make friends myself, you know."

"I know. But it's always easier to be introduced. And since I am ever so charming, I thought, why not help my dear friend Elizabeth?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I recognize Superman, but I'm sorry, I don't know your names." She stepped around Flash. "I'm Ellie. Don't listen to a word that he says about me." She jerked a thumb at Flash. "He lives to torment me." The words were said with a smile, softening the blow.

"I'm Hank and this is Don."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ellie." Don smiled.

"You want to hear embarrassing stories about the Flash?"

"Ellie! Don't listen to her, GL and Shay fed her all sorts of lies."

"So the Flash Mobile was a lie?"

"Well, that one was true, actually. But I never left in just my mask and PJs to help the League!"

Ellie shook her head. "And here I was thinking that you were dedicated to the cause."

A voice broke in. "I actually think I remember you doing that."

Flash looked at him, horror stricken. "I was taught that lying is a disgrace. I'm not quite sure how I ended up friends with such a bad liar, but ah well." Superman said.

His lips twitched.

"Well, this is certainly going to be an interesting conversation." Supergirl sat down on the bed.

"When life gives you lemons, squirt them in someone's eye," Ellie said wisely. "John and Shayera provided the lemons, and I am merely squirting them in your eye."

Flash collapsed on the floor with a groan. "If you three are against me then Don and Hank have to be on my team."

Hank looked over at him. "You don't have a team. And I like tormenting people," he grunted.

Don shook his head sympathetically. "Life is hard."

Ellie was still fidgeting. Supergirl could hear her erratic heartbeat. There was something wrong, even if she was acting calm. But what it was, there was no way of knowing, unless J'onn poked in her mind. Hopefully it was something that would sort itself out. While she knew that she and Ellie were really good friends, there was something about Flash and Ellie. Her lips twitched. She'd just have to play matchmaker. It would mean one up on Stargirl, which was good. Not only that, it would be fun. Two of her closest friends, who obviously like each other? Piece of cake. It was really Batman and Wonder Woman who needed the help…


	7. Chapter 7

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

* * *

She was finding it difficult to act normal. She'd contemplated destroying the OS4, but found herself unable to smash it. She'd invaded their privacy. Destroyed their trust. And they didn't even know about it. She felt stick to her stomach. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking and whenever she was alone, she couldn't stop staring at it. It was mocking her, a reminder of what she'd done. She had never felt like this before _or_ after hacking. Her father had always told her it was a gift. The scientists at the lab had told her over and over since she was about eight that she was helping. Anything she could hack was good because it provided information. And learning was an important process.

But wasn't that what had Flash said that Braniac had wanted? To learn everything? But he wanted to do so he could digitize every part of creation. They thought of him as evil because of that. So was she evil? It wasn't as though she could blame her family. Her father hadn't manipulated her – she could still make decisions even at eight, and she had agreed to help them with their experiments. They had continued to develop the computers, using her as a tester, to see what she could do with it. They became even more interested after she first hacked into something. They gave her books to read, tests to see what else she could do. And on it went from there.

They'd never told her what it felt like when you realized it was wrong. She was a criminal. She dimly remembered hackers being locked up because they had gotten into the FBI or CIA and spread information. All that information from all different databases…it was stored on the OS4. She didn't know how to delete it. She'd never had to delete anything from it before.

Batman was right. Ellie hadn't understood why he was glaring at her, why he didn't trust her. But he had the right idea. She didn't deserve to have friends like this. She had to tell them. Or get out. Leave, escape. They were in danger whenever she was near them. She had placed them in that danger by being foolhardy, ignorant, a criminal. It wasn't the easy way out. Leaving would be one of the hardest things she had ever done. But how could she stay here, knowing what she had done? Seeing them was a constant reminder of what she had done to them. And that was when Ellie realized it wasn't just to protect her friends.

"I'm selfish. Someone should just kill me now, because I don't deserve to be here." She grabbed the pillow off her bed and hugged it tightly. "Tomorrow." She promised herself.

* * *

7 years earlier

"I don't think this is a good idea, Mark." John Clarke pursed his lips, glaring over his glasses at the man in front of him.

"She agreed to the experiments. She may be your daughter, but she has free will and she signed a contract." Mark crossed his arms over his lanky frame.

"She's ten. And you want to put a chip in her brain to make her more 'susceptible' to hacking? That's not even the right word for it. You want to brainwash her into believing that hacking is a good thing, for your own means, and increase her brain performance. Neither of us agreed to that, and you know it."

"I'm sorry, John, but the bosses already decided. They said that they'll pull the plug on the entire protection of OS computers if we don't cooperate."

"You'll make her into a monster!" John threw his hands up into the air. "She won't know right from wrong if you do that. Could you imagine? If that chip lodges itself too firmly into her brain, eventually she'll become obsessed. She won't be able to stop herself from hacking. We won't even be able to remove it. The technology hasn't been properly checked over yet – it could have all sorts of side effects.

"You know the project isn't going according to plan. She keeps asking why we want her to hack, because according to her schoolteachers, hacking is wrong. The bosses want her to hack into valuable sites so they can get information to help with the election. They find this email its blackmail galore for them and a nice paycheck for us.

"But we don't have to drag my daughter into it. I may be helping with this, but she's an innocent. She doesn't know any better and she doesn't deserve to be dragged into something that could make her a criminal."

"She's already a criminal, John. And you don't really have a choice."

John frowned, pushing his brown, floppy hair out of his eyes. "What does that mean?"

Mark looked away guiltily. "Peter said that if you don't cooperate, they'd reveal what she's done to the police."

"They can't do that! It would ruin the entire operation, and that is the only thing that they care about."

Mark shrugged. "They always find a way to get what they want, John. Always."

Present

* * *

Batman scowled. Someone had managed to hack into his account. More than one actually, since both seemed to be coming from different locations, though he was unable to detect the second hacker. The first was somewhere in Europe but the connection had been severed before he could find out anymore. Apparently it wasn't one of the workers – he'd used every resource to figure out who had told the press, but they'd all come up clean. Somehow, someone had managed to figure out the decoy and slip past his defenses, finding the information he had found about Elizabeth Clarke. While that was worrying, the second hacker had looked into the Justice League file, disconnecting soon afterwards. But they'd seen the files. All of the members were there. Secret identities, where they lived, how old they were, what breakfast cereal they ate…it was all there. To him, this wasn't an invasion of privacy. He needed to know these things to keep track of them.

You couldn't trust anyone nowadays. Obviously he would have to up the security as well as try to track down the two hackers. They couldn't be allowed to run wild with the information. So it was his duty to shut them down. Unfortunately, it wasn't as though he could keep this hidden from the other Founders. It involved all of them – some more than others, true, but their very identities were stored within his database and it had been badly compromised. He frowned.

Nightwing had given him information about the various organizations and alien groups which had tried to attack the Watchtower's new resident. After checking each thoroughly, he had found nothing amiss and come to the conclusion that there was nothing worthwhile. But as he thought back, he began to remember complaints about someone known only as Hacker. Just Hacker. It hadn't seemed interesting at the time, as hackers attempted to breach the security of dozens of organizations. But the fact that this person was known as Hacker, that each of the human groups had been targeted by this Hacker, and the fact that each had almost impossible to pass security systems…

The OS4. He remembered Flash telling the others about how it was just an advanced computer, how the Titans had suggested it was just something that reminded Elizabeth of her parents. But what if it was more? Hackers usually needed very advanced equipment when faced with security systems such as his own, and he had never even heard of such a computer.

He began to search the Internet, going through around eleven search pages before something caught his eye. "The OS4…discontinued after an explosion took the lives of all scientists working on its development…advanced technology, suggested it was used to find information that could be used in the elections…the funding groups were unknown…the last scientist died two years ago in a car crash…the sole survivor was his fifteen year old daughter, Elizabeth Clarke."

His eyes narrowed. He'd got her.

"Bruce, is this about the information leak? Because we didn't need all the Founders." Superman looked disheveled as he rushed into the conference room, having recently returned from protecting Metropolis.

"Partly."

"Had a hot date," Flash grinned, sweeping in. "Don't think I'll be seeing her again – unless I want to see the inside of a prison."

John rolled his eyes while Batman merely growled, before standing up. "There was an information leak around a week ago. Somehow Lois found out that Elizabeth was up here. Clark managed to stop her from spreading it, but…" He trailed off. "It turns out that someone managed to breach my security systems, finding various files I had written up about our new guest."

Shayera sighed. "Someone hacked into Bruce's files, Wally."

"I know that." Flash looked offended, sticking his tongue out at her.

"But there was more than one security breach. A few days later someone accessed the files I keep about the Justice League members."

They all turned white.

"Wait, you mean they have information about who we are as well as everything else?" Diana questioned, looking aghast.

"And more. I was unable to locate where the second hacker was, suggesting that they were more skilled and had some advanced technology. After that I remembered that I had seen this illustrious Hacker in various other organizations I had checked out." He leaned on the table. "Every single organization that has been hacked into this by this one person has attacked Elizabeth in the past month."

"You're not suggesting…" John swallowed, glancing at Flash. He was glaring at Batman, his body stiff and cold.

Batman opened the folder in front of him, pulling out a piece of paper that looked like it had been printed off a news website. "The OS computers were put into production around 10 years ago. The first successful one was developed a year later. The scientists who created them died three years ago in a giant explosion that destroyed nearly all of the computers. There was only one scientist who survived the blow – he was on holiday with his family at the time. The police couldn't figure out whether it was arson or an accident, and unable to find any evidence, left the case. A year after the explosion, the remaining scientist died in a car accident with his family. The only one who survived was his daughter, who carried the only remaining OS computer." He paused, watching as the doubtful looks turned to horror and anger.

"Ellie…" Shayera breathed.

Batman inclined his head. "Elizabeth Clarke had been involved in the development of the OS computers since she was eight years old. After the death of her family, journalists began to look into the OS case. It turned out that the OS computers were designed to be used to hack into other computers. That was one of their many purposes. The people backing the project wanted to be able to hack into other organizations so they could use the information to fix the elections."

"The elections?" J'onn asked quietly.

"There is an organization known as 'David', after David and Goliath. One of the biggest businesses within the criminal industry, David has infiltrated every part of the system – the President's office, the FBI, the CIA, M15, and police forces, to name the most well known. The leader of this is elected a year before a presidential election. The OS computers were backed by several members of David who wanted to become 'Top Dog.'"

"Why? What do they stand to gain?" Wonder Woman spoke up hesitantly.

"Those who become leaders of David become the most powerful people of the world. Even afterwards they became highly respected and are given very powerful jobs. They continue to manipulate people. They are the power behind the presidency. Using the OS computers, whoever backed it would be able to find out information that only the 'Top Dog' knows. That means they would be able to bribe and blackmail, therefore winning themselves the elections."

"But something went wrong." Flash spoke, his voice dull. His liveliness was gone as he stared down at the article in front of him. "The 'Top Dog' found out. He caused the explosion at the laboratory in the hope that he would win the next election as well. The car accident that killed John Clarke and his family were also planned."

"How did Ellie survive the crash?"

"She didn't." Flash froze for an instant. "She wasn't in the car at the time. There was a miscalculation – Mr. Prince assumed that her father would have the computer. But Mr. Clarke had no idea how to use the OS4. Elizabeth did."

"So what you're saying is that she hacked into your database and found out everything about us."

Batman didn't pause. "Yes."

"So she's betrayed the League."

Batman shook his head.

"But you just said –"

"From what I can tell, she hasn't revealed anything. She hacked in over a week ago and disappeared after about three minutes into the document."

"So what exactly do you want us to do? Lock her up? Hand her over to the people who are after her?" Flash asked. His voice was steady, but his body was shaking violently.

"I want you to pretend that everything is normal."

"How do you expect us to do that? From what you're saying, she's nothing better than a criminal."

"I may be wrong. She may be innocent. But we need to know what she's up to."

Flash shot up from his chair. "Ellie is a good person! I don't care what you say, but she is innocent and you can…you can…" He stuttered, then rushed out the doors.

Clark moved to go after him, but Batman stuck his arm out. "He won't tell her." He looked over at them.

"What are you going to do?" J'onn leaned forwards.

"Whatever needs to be done." And he swept out, his cloak moving behind him dramatically.

"He always did know how to make an exit." The joke felt flat. All they could think about was how someone they had come to trust – even Wonder Woman who had started chatting to her after a surprise encounter – had betrayed them.

A voice crackled through the speakers. "Wonder Woman, Shayera, and Green Lantern – you're needed in three separate areas leading three different teams. Can you come to the teleporters right away?" They shuffled out, closely followed by Superman and J'onn.

"We just have to hope that Batman is wrong." J'onn murmured at Superman's desolate look.

"Bruce is rarely wrong." His voice was bitter as he headed towards the cafeteria.

J'onn looked back into the room before clicking off the lights. "Then perhaps there is no hope after all."

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

**AN:** Unfortunately, due to exams, I'm finding it difficult to find anytime to write anything. I will be continuing with this story but there won't be really long chapters at regular intervals until mid June. Sorry for that :D Thank you to my beta Miles333 for all her wonderful work, and thank you to all reviewers - your comments are much appreciated.

* * *

He slid down the wall. Took a few deep breaths. After the meeting he had slammed through the 'Tower, stopping at the cafeteria regularly to grab food. All he wanted to do was run – as fast and as far away as he could get. But running here left him with little satisfaction, and on Earth, the destruction he could cause… Whenever he was on Earth, running in a straight line, no barriers, he could feel it calling him. And if he went down there now, to pound out his troubles on any surface available, there would be nobody there to pull him back. He'd shouted at both Supergirl and Fire, wiping the smiles off their faces as they reared backwards. He'd avoided most of the Leaguers. Ollie and Ralph were cautious, and didn't approach him after he had snapped at them the second time. After he had paced the 'Tower, he had found himself drawn here, wanting to confront her, to do anything to stop the pain. The bad guys weren't meant to be your friends. They weren't meant to be the innocents you had been protecting. After he had come here, he had stood outside the door. Raised his hand; paused. That slight hesitation ended up being his downfall in terms of his quest. After that he had been unable to gather the courage he needed.

The door slid open. His eyes stayed closed. Her steps were hesitant. No doubt a look of confusion would be on her face – perhaps it would blossom to understanding eventually. Now, he had no strength to confront her, the anger replaced by a hollow feeling that threatened to engulf him. A swallow. Four heartbeats. An intake of breath. "Flash?" Her voice was quiet.

He made no move to reply, his eyelids fluttering slightly.

She placed something down next to him, clanking it against the metal floor. She was rummaging, and then there was tearing of paper, a scribble. He heard nothing else as she turned and walked back into the room. But he felt her stare as the door slid closed. His skin prickled, feeling too tight, encasing him, as he began to shake. There were no tears, but he was unable to control himself for an instant, his heartbeat jittering. Flash opened his eyes. Looked down. Smiled. Picking up the torn piece of paper he crumpled it, before lifting up the black backpack. Something slid – heavy enough to be a laptop, with a few added ingredients. Racing off, the paper slid out of his grasp, the wind from his run sending it up into the air.

GET RID OF IT could be seen in bright black letters, as it drifted down.

* * *

She sat alone in her room. When she had left, she hadn't meant to get rid of it. In her consciousness she knew she could never destroy it. The OS4 had become a part of her, an extension of herself which would be missed as sorely as a missing limb. But he'd been sitting there, silent as the grave, barely moving. It was strange to see him like that. How rude, angry, bitter, he was. It had made no sense until she found him outside. His posture was stiff and grew stiffer when she stepped out. Supergirl had been round, complaining.

They knew.

There was no other reason that he would ignore her. The slip-up she had realized she had made, only minutes after leaving the system. Batman must have found it, been alerted to her presence. But how had they known it was her? She had left no trace, no evidence that would suggest it was her. But it didn't matter. They knew, and it had hurt them. She had been trying to figure out a way to get rid of temptation and this was the perfect way – give it to the people who she had hurt. It was a peace offering as well as a way of saving herself. Without it, she would be no use to the kidnappers because she could only hack on the OS4. Other computer systems were so different, so old fashioned Ellie had found it impossible to adjust.

Her head was beginning to pound. She let her head fall down onto her tucked up knees, a curtain of hair tumbling down. She missed Earth. Perhaps that was why she had grown so attached in such a short time to the people around her. Or maybe it was just because she connected better with them. She missed the Titans – had had no word from them since they had left three weeks ago. Three weeks with no wind, no grass, no birds or animals, nothing Earth like. It was all cold metal. And while she understood it was for her own protection, that didn't stop the longing she felt to go camping, to do anything that required her to be down where it rained, where she could feel the warmth of the sun. It was cheesy, but she hadn't realized how much she needed it until she had lost it. Her headache seemed to have entered into migraine stage. Ellie was having trouble concentrating, the feeling of something trying to tear itself out of her brain overwhelming. A small shift of her head sent shockwaves of pain through her. She froze, gasped, clutching at her head. "Oh God." She moaned, tears beginning to leak out from her eyes.

Staggering upwards, she stumbled out of her door. She surprised Supergirl, whose hand was poised to knock. "Ellie? What's the matter?" But she couldn't hear her. That short walk had been too much and she was almost overloading. It felt as though her eardrums were about to burst, as though her brain had swollen beyond belief and was trying to find a way to escape from the confines of her skulls. She pitched forwards, eyes rolling back as she let herself accept the overpowering darkness that consumed her.

* * *

"There was something strange in the scan of her brain."

"Does anyone know what's wrong with her?" Flash asked, rolling back onto his heels as he looked through the glass window. Ellie had been unconscious for ten minutes before she had once more woken up, screaming as she writhed back and forth. It seemed as though she was feeling the most unimaginable pain, but so far there appeared to be nothing wrong with her.

Flash glanced at John questioningly.

"Superman checked it up. There's a chip in it. Once they've subdued her, they're going to see if they can remove it."

"How exactly are they going to do that? I mean, she's gone nuts." Supergirl rested her face in her hands as she leaned forwards on the windowsill.

"She was fine when I saw her." Flash muttered.

"I thought she just came out and dumped the OS4."

"Well yeah, but she wasn't screaming or anything, so I'm assuming she was fine."

"I must have come just ten minutes after you. I don't understand what the hell is wrong with her. How can she go from nothing to really weird pain in ten minutes? It makes no sense." Supergirl banged her head on the window as she went forwards, and jerked back. "Ow."

Flash frowned. "Wait a minute…" He cocked his head to glance at John. "A chip."

"Yeah." John raised an eyebrow.

"And she gave me the OS4…I gave it to Bats, and Bats took it to Bats Cave," Flash muttered tapping his foot slightly. "What if the chips connected with the OS4?"

"She did always have it with her. It would make sense if the members of David were really using her to hack things – she'd have to remain faithful to them otherwise…" John waved his hand at the thrashing girl. "…this would happen."

"We could test this little theory. Flash why don't you…" He was gone by the time she'd started. "Never mind." Turning to John she frowned. "Whose David?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter."

* * *

Supergirl jerked up. An hour had passed since Wally had headed down.

"No more screaming." Shayera had replaced Green Lantern around half an hour ago. They'd avoided looking at each other, Vixen having been just behind. Even after the chat with Ellie things were awkward, and at points it almost seemed that Shayera was blushing when they were talking. Which couldn't be true, obviously. Shayera didn't blush. Ever.

"That's good. They can get rid of whatever that thing is now."

Wally slid into the room as Ellie collapsed, her breathing sound, eyelashes fluttering ever so slightly. He was gripping the OS4 tightly.

"Wally! You've been gone for ages. If you really are the fastest man alive you're doing a really poor job." Supergirl snapped. Her head swung back to the window. "And you were right. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Right about what?" Flash was still staring at Ellie, the tension visibly leaking out of his body as Shayera raised an eyebrow. Surprisingly, the expression almost matched John's from earlier, reaffirming Kara's belief that the two were made for each other.

"The OS4." She pointed at it. "It's connected to that chip somehow."

"How did you figure that out?"

"It was Wally, actually. He'd seen her ten minutes before I did, and she was fine. Gave him the OS4, and then I come and she's screaming her head off. I think it was the electronics that tipped him off."

"It was too much of a coincidence. It explains why she's so involved in computers – she had one in her brain." Flash paused. "No wonder she's so clever…"

"It's a chip, not a computer. Two completely different things." Supergirl flashed a grin up at him, relieved to see the doctors wheeling Ellie into the operating room. "Hopefully things will be alright now.

Doctor Marth lowered her head as Flash, Supergirl and Shayera looked up, not having left their posts. It had been five hours since Ellie had been wheeled into the operating room. She hadn't been seen since. "There was a lot of internal bleeding when we tried to remove the chip." She grimaced slightly. "I'm sorry. There wasn't anything we could do."

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

**AN:** Unfortunately, due to exams, I'm finding it difficult to find anytime to write anything. I will be continuing with this story but there won't be really long chapters at regular intervals until mid June. Sorry for that :D Thank you to my beta Miles333 for all her wonderful work, and thank you to all reviewers - your comments are much appreciated.

* * *

"So I have a chip in my brain?" Her voice was slightly slurred, her eyes bleary as she looked up at Flash.

"Yeah. They couldn't get rid of it, 'cause it's attached to a load of your brain matter. Really, really attached, like Braniac/Luthor attached."

"Didn't you separate them, though?"

He paused and then cocked his head, opening his mouth then shutting it. "Technically, but I almost entered the Speed Force. And Braniac wasn't in his brain. He was just…everywhere else."

"Great." Her eyelids fluttered slightly and she yawned, shifting.

"Flash…"

"Call me Wally." It slipped out before he really had any time to process the thought. He shrugged at her questioning look. "I figured you probably already knew. And we might as well make a fresh start or whatever. Anyway, Bats has decided I need to do some weird course of his because he's pissed I broke into his Bat cave."

"How'd you get in?"

"I may have…broken a few things to get there, but the dinosaur did not suffer. It was dead anyway." He grinned before pushing himself out of his seat. "I'll talk to you later, Ellie."

"Thanks, Wally." Her voice was quiet, but he could still hear the guilt.

"No worries." Saluting, he backed out of the room, closing the door. A figure in a white cloak lurked out in the hallway. "Hey, Raven." She inclined her head, sheets of hair shielding her face. "You going in to see her?"

"Yes. The OS4 is…causing difficulties."

"Interesting, interesting. When you go in, can you ask if they still make Mars Bars?"

She turned to face him, a slender eyebrow arching.

"Thanks." Flash shot off.

She turned back, staring at the machine. Whatever had happened had caused an overload that was doing something to her powers. She felt edgy just sitting there. It was obvious that it wasn't just the chip. Technology had developed to extraordinary lengths it was true, but magic was involved. She could actually feel the hum of energy within the room. It was affecting everything. By separating them, the Justice League had accidentally strengthened the bond. When Ellie had stayed at the Titans Tower, the OS4 had remained with her at all times, but never ever affected her powers or her ability to read her mind. But now, Ellie's mind was blank, and an impossible wall had been built between Ellie's and her own.

The door slid open, alerting Ellie to her presence. "Raven! I didn't expect to see you here." She was pale, dark circles under her eyes as she stared up at her. "You're wearing white."

Raven's lips twitched. "Garfield suggested it."

"Does that mean you're possibly…dating?" A smile broke out when Raven didn't reply. "Finally! I told you he liked you. And since you're the mind reader, I'd have thought it would have been easier for you to figure out than me." She slowly sat up, and strained to look out the door. "Are the others not here?"

"There's been some problems in Jump City – a large number of criminals broke out of a high level holding cell and are running rampant. I came to check up on you – Wally alerted us to your…condition."

"It's weird right? I mean, the chip and the OS4 are obviously linked, which means it has to be to do with whatever project my dad was working on. And that means that he knew about it. And that's bad. Because then I was nothing but a project to him. I mean, this thing has been in my head for about seven, eight years. It's never coming out. If they try to short circuit it, there's an 80% risk I'll die." There were tears in her eyes, slowly dripping down as her voice wavered. Raven didn't move. Ellie wiped her eyes furiously before laughing suddenly. "I'm sorry. I haven't seen you in over a month and I'm acting all stupid."

"It's fine, Ellie." Her voice was surprisingly gentle, a warm smile gracing her face before it fell back into the emotionless mask. "The rest of the Titans wanted me to tell you to get better soon. And…" Waving her hand slightly, chocolate fell out of the black hole that appeared above the side table. "Beast Boy's and Starfire's contribution. Watch out for the Florgnax. We aren't sure what's in them."

Ellie's hand paused over the chocolates, before retracing, snatching up a more human-looking chocolate bar.

"Nightwing has been doing some investigating of his own. After Batman rang up to shout at him," Ellie winced, "Nightwing began to investigate more into who could be attacking you. They're all different obviously, but there is something happening. We managed to intercept a command from an unknown locating calling for an attack on the Watchtower around two days ago. There…" She hesitated slightly.

"Yes?" Ellie prompted.

"Someone had managed to get plans of the Watchtower and had targeted a specific room to 'protect'. Using some kind of magic, which I'm not familiar with. Upon further investigation, it turned out that room was yours."

"So I'm not safe up here."

"No one else can use the OS4. Therefore, many, many criminals are looking to steal you as well. According to Nightwing, Superman believes Lex Luthor is also after you to gain revenge on Wally."

"I'm not going to cooperate with them. And why target Flash? You'd think he would target Superman. Everybody knows that Superman doesn't like him. They're like…" She waved her arms around wildly, thinking of something to say.

"Mortal Enemies," Raven filled in.

"With capitals."

"The defeat of Braniac seems to have tipped Luthor over the edge. There have been reports that he believes that Braniac is still with him and he actually talks to him." She hesitated. "It's disturbing as sane Luthor was dangerous – but we have no way of predicting what he's going to do now. In fact, the Founders have been called down to face a creation of LexCorp's right now."

* * *

Flash slid down the building, breathing heavily. Blood from a head wound was barely visible against the red of his costume. He peeked out, only to pull his head back in again as a large piece of debris smashed past. Whoever had called in the alarm had failed to mention the scores of other super villains with Lex.

Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang were among them, which slightly weirded him out. They were Little League villains. He was glad to see that Trickster wasn't there – hopefully that meant he was still on his meds. Copperhead, Star Sapphire, Hot Streak, Deadshot, Atomic Skull, Sinestro, Volcana, Metallo – all of them and more. The worst part? They were targeting him. If the others weren't distracting them, even if there was a chance of taking out Superman or Wonder Woman or even Batman for God's sake, they still went for him.

It was Lex's fault, really. If a superhero has the chance to take out a super villain, especially if the issue of the world being at stake is around, they're going to take it. That's what makes them heroes. They fight to save others no matter what the personal cost. He had been prepared to do it and it had only been because of his friends that he hadn't been pulled into Speed Force in the first place. And he was starting to believe that maybe that had been a good thing.

Speedster heaven it may have been, but there was a lot of stuff he would never have gotten around to doing if he had died. Such as visiting the Taco Bar that had just opened up. Or learning Spanish. Or stopping Toyman's latest creation from destroying the Mini-Mart. Or meeting Ellie. All things he was very pleased he had managed to accomplish.

"Flash, I know you're here. There's no point in hiding. If you don't come out I might just snap Hawkgirl's neck. Oh, you don't like being called Hawkgirl anymore, do you? Does it remind you too much of the Thanagarian invasion? There must be a very thing line between good and evil, since what you did could be classified as much worse than what I've done." Lex laughed, smiling down at the struggling form he was holding. "Or maybe I should just go up to the Watchtower and steal that pretty little human that rumor has it, you're quite attached too."

Flash froze in place.

"What are you talking about, Lex?" Superman's voice called.

"It's all over the news, Superman. Lois isn't very good at keeping secrets. And I was more that happy to help her." Flash staggered up and around the corner, the bone of his left leg feeling suspiciously broken. Reinforcements had apparently been called as he saw Green Arrow helping Black Canary up and into a kiss, as well as B'Wana Beast and Vibe tying up various super villains. Superman stood alone in front of the giant robot that contained Lex. Shayera appeared to have been discarded, Green Lantern having already rushed over to her stirring form.

"Flash! How nice of you to join us. It's always a pleasure to see you." Even from this distance, the twisted smirk on Lex's face held only insanity and anger. "You think I've forgotten what you did, Flash? You think I've –" He was cut off by the punch that Superman threw. By the time Superman had punched his way into the main body of the robot, Luthor was gone, no doubt using some teleportation device his little minions had concocted.

"Are you okay?" Superman's concern was evident.

"I'll be fine soon. But, if Luthor knows about Ellie, doesn't that mean others are going to as well?"

"They won't necessarily know that she's the Hacker." Flash smiled slightly, dimming as he toppled forwards, Superman catching him at the last second.

"Why else would we have her up there? She hasn't got any special abilities. She can hack and she's smart - but that's not going to help against crazy superhuman freaks - no offence. They're going to figure it out. And then what are we going to do?"

Superman looked over at the carnage that had been created by the fight. "What we always do. Protect those who are unable to protect themselves."

* * *

**AN: You didn't _really_ think I'd kill her, did you? :D I'm off to the Lake District for a bit so while I had hoped to be able to dedicate some time over the Easter Holidays to updates, fanfiction is going to have to be put on hold for a bit. Sorry!**

**Frantically writing,**

**Floaging**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

**AN:** Unfortunately, due to exams, I'm finding it difficult to find anytime to write anything. I will be continuing with this story but there won't be really long chapters at regular intervals until mid June. Sorry for that :D Thank you to my beta Miles333 for all her wonderful work, and thank you to all reviewers - your comments are much appreciated.

* * *

"The link between the computer chip and the OS4 has started to become stronger, I'm afraid. Soon it is possible that there is going to be a need of physical contact between Ms. Clarke and her computer at all times to prevent the chip from malfunctioning."

Mr. Terrific sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say that. What if the bond between the two gets even stronger?"

The technician frowned. He was renowned for his expertise with computers – it's why he had been recruited by the League to help with the Watchtower two years previously. "It is likely that eventually, Ms. Clarke will experience a large amount of side effects, which could lead to her death as the link between the OS4 and chip becomes stronger." He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it. It's impossible for anyone else to use it, according to Flash, because it has fingerprint recognition. However, the OS4 doesn't run off everyday electricity – it runs off the electrical impulses within Ms. Clarke's brain, which are converted by the chip."

Mr. Terrific frowned. "But how does it manage to access the OS4?"

"Ms. Clarke is able to…_hack_ into anything without needing physical access. The device located within her brain is able to use that same technology. Due to the contact with Ms. Clarke for the past eight years or so, it has started to develop – the metal used appears to trace back to a planet that Ice and the Crimson Avenger reported contained "living metal". They managed to bring back a sample, and the genetic compounds within it are a match to the OS4 after examination."

"She has living metal in her brain."

"Basically. Unfortunately, it is starting to grow. The separation from the OS4 for even a short period of time has led to an overload within the chip - the further from the OS4, the more difficult it was to power. Therefore it created a loop and began to power itself, causing it develop at a faster rate. If this hadn't occurred, the chip would likely have not caused any significant damage to Ms. Clarke for another eighty years."

"And now that it has occurred, how long?"

"Before the metal envelops her brain?"

Mr. Terrific nodded, waiting.

"Around two months."

* * *

"I want to say yes, but at the same time…no."

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun. And it's not every day that you get to see the Big Blue as the Big…Pink."

"Wally, it may have escaped your notice, but I am in a hospital bed. And don't have any superpowers. Meaning I am going to find it just a _little _bit difficult escaping him if he comes looking. And if he does, don't think I'm protecting you, mate."

Wally pouted. "El_lie_…you're no fun…" Ever since he'd introduced himself again, he'd taken to not wearing his mask when they were in the same room. It was weird, really. She'd gotten so used to seeing the Flash that the appearance of Wallace West was a little difficult. But nothing had really changed. They were the same person, whether or not one was wearing a mask. It was just…he was ginger. And though he denied it, he wasn't really a redhead. Shayera was definitely a proper redhead. But Wally? He was ginger. She actually thought it was pretty cute, but whenever she mentioned it, he would screw up his nose and pout. Which sort of forced her to _keep_ mentioning it.

Ellie would never really be able to pinpoint the first moment she realized she was attracted to him. She was seventeen; boyfriends had been few and far between, but it wasn't as though she had never had one. With Wally, everything had sort of crept up on her. She'd gotten to know him first without seeing his face, meaning she couldn't base anything on looks. And that was good in a way because it meant that she hadn't automatically started blushing whenever she saw him, which she had taken to doing now. Every time he looked at her with those smiling blue eyes, she almost melted. Cheesy, most definitely, but not exactly something she could control. It also meant she was more conscious of her looks. She avoided any harsh lighting, preferring the low light setting in the room, so the scars slashed across her face were less obvious.

But overall, nothing appeared to have changed. She'd betrayed them and yet nobody had actually said anything. She knew the sparse details of the 'ordeal', the OS4 now located in its normal bag on the floor next to her. Supergirl visited her a lot, and Green Arrow and Black Canary had popped in a few times. Don had dragged Hank along earlier to give her some flowers, which had been really sweet. Even the Question had visited, but that had been a bit freaky, as he had started muttering about the apocalypse and linking the OS4 to several events that apparently were going to occur.

Wally was the only Founder who had visited her so far. She was sort of glad. The guilt was enough just seeing Wally, but if Shayera or John came…or even Superman. "Ellie, I'm going to get Ollie to help me do this since you're being such a downer, but if anyone asks, it wasn't us. Got it?" Wally cocked his head to the side, one leg dangling down from his position on her bed.

"Whatever you say, Wallace," Ellie smirked.

He poked his tongue out at her before pressing a kiss to her cheek and rushing out the door. It had happened so suddenly that for a moment, she wasn't sure that he had actually done it. She slid down the bed with a giggle before reaching over to grab the conspiracy book the Question had given her. It was definitely interesting.

* * *

Lex Luthor wasn't a bad guy. No matter what the League thought, it was never possible to place people into boxes and expect them to actually _fit_. They classified themselves as the good guys because they defended the Earth from villains. But did they ever think about the amount of money that the taxpayers had to pay, every time they got into one of their fights? The cheapest fights usually cost at least a million dollars, and considering at least a dozen incidents seemed to occur every day, it wasn't cheap.

Lex on the other hand, actually cared about the _quality _of life that people lived in. He craved power, but that didn't mean he was a bad guy. In fact, it really meant he was proactive, because he actually went for what he wanted. So, Lex had never classified himself as one of the people who were truly bad – after all, the public loved him.

But this little meeting…Braniac…they had truly tipped him over the edge. And strangely, he couldn't bring himself to care. "Ms. Reid. It's a pleasure to meet you." He kissed her extended hand and ushered her in. He was particularly pleased with his desk, and the admiration on her face assured him of its impact. The desk was carved from a single slab of oak wood, gleaming from polish. The desk rested on the heads of four professors carved from stone, each going about an act of knowledge - whether reading, writing, lecturing or meditating. Their faces seemed engraved with looks of suffering, a double meaning, suggesting the weight of the desk and the weight of the knowledge they knew. Bookcases lined the room. Tall ladders set on castors were around the room, irregular in intervals as though used randomly. The books ranged in appearance and text, though mainly they appeared bound in leather and velvets, the sturdy-looking hinges made of precious metals.

"I wouldn't call it a pleasure, Mr. Luthor. This is purely business and therefore I believe we shall start as soon as you remove any camera, recording device, or person within the area."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid I am unable to do that, Ms. Reid. I'm an important person. The precautions are necessary to ensure my health."

"Then I am unable to help you with your little…project."

Inclining his head, he stared at the woman in front of him. Around thirty years old, her red hair was tied up in a loose bun, intelligent brown eyes staring out at him from a pale face. She was pretty, a rounded mouth under a pert nose, creating a look of innocence. The short black skirt and white shirt seemed to be intended to seduce. All part of the act, no doubt. He leaned forwards and pressed a button. "Remove everything."

The bodyguards quickly dispersed.

"Now, Ms. Reid, I know for a fact you aren't the person I've been corresponding with."

"My client was unable to make it. She sends her regrets."

"I see. I suppose we should come to the terms of this little project?"

"If you will." The woman watched him closely as he pulled open a drawer in his desk and removed some papers.

"Your client is in need of a Ms. Elizabeth Clarke and the OS4, both located in the Justice League Watchtower. I need the Flash. Without my resources, you are unable to capture the girl. And without your client's…powers, so to speak, I am unable to capture the Flash. We agree to do business until the time that both terms have been agreed – I have the Flash and you have the girl."

"Basically."

"Why exactly do you want her?

"That is none of your concern, Mr. Luthor. However, without the girl, there is no possible way of fulfilling your terms, as she is pivotal to the capture of the Flash."

"So I agree to allow you full access to LexCorp money and resources, and you assure me that the Flash will be delivered alive and kicking."

The woman smiled at him and pulled out some papers from her briefcase.

"Just sign here, Mr. Luthor, and we have a deal."

* * *

"Bruce."

He grunted.

"Bruce."

"I'm a little busy at the moment Diana."

"Don't you think you should leave it?"

"Ms. Clarke is placing the Watchtower in danger."

"That isn't exactly her fault – they are trying to kill her."

"Because she was flouting several known laws to hack into private information for her own amusement."

"You do the same – you and the Question. Both investigate into _personal_, _private _information."

"That is to make sure that the Thanagarian betrayal never happens again."

"You were doing it before then, Bruce."

"It's important to know your enemy."

"We're your friends, Bruce. Not the enemy."

"Elizabeth was Flash's friend."

"She didn't know it was us."

"So you can just forgive her."

"You haven't even spoken to her. Facts don't make up a person. And even though you suppress them half the time, you know emotions are important."

"Diana…"

"Just talk to her, Bruce. It's not that hard." Diana flew out of the cave.

Batman had never talked to the girl, it was true. But there was a reason. He could clearly see that the others had developed an attachment. Doing this meant they were vulnerable. It was why, even as Bruce Wayne, he didn't have friends. The only person he truly cared for, who was not a superhero, was Alfred. An old family friend who knew everything about him.

The few people he would call friends were the other founders, and that meant they could defend themselves. Yet Ms. Elizabeth Clarke couldn't. Her whole life seemed to have centred around normal life until she was fifteen. And then she had gone to an orphanage and become obsessed with the OS4. It meant there wasn't any way to for her to defend herself against villains. Take away the OS4, and she was powerless. With it, she could possibly destroy the planet. Meaning they needed an outsider. Someone who didn't care for her, so that they could stop her with little remorse, or keep fighting if she was killed. And that someone, as usual, had to be him.

* * *

**AN: I'm trying to dedicate more time to people other than Ellie and Flash but I don't know if I'm doing it right... :S Any suggestions for how to improve are much appreciated!**

**Caramel frappuccino, coffee based, no cream,  
**

**Floaging**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hacker**

By Floaging

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, its Production Company, Affiliates, and/or Sponsors. Everything is fictional and any similarities between the characters and any living person are unintentional.

**AN:** Exams are officially over for me and I am finding myself with a lot more free time. So I shall be dedicating more time to this meaning hopefully updates will be more regular. Thank you to all faithful readers and reviewers - your comments make me look sort of like this -- :D

* * *

"Smallville. You're here early, even for you." Lois looked up at him and frowned, leaning back on her desk chair. "And either you're constipated or pissed, I can't decide which one."

Clark shot her a look. "Ha, ha. Very funny, Lois. Did you tell Lex?"

"Did I tell Lex what?" she asked, spinning round to face her computer again.

"About Ellie?"

"If I knew who Ellie was, then maybe I could answer that."

He sighed heavily. "That girl that you said the League was keeping up in the Tower. Remember?"

"I don't remember saying she was called Ellie." She smirked up at him. "And for your information, Smallville, no I didn't. I followed your advice. Which means I missed a very good story because of your do-gooder ways. If he knows about her then he probably found out from the same source. As much as I want to say it, Lex isn't stupid. He's a Luthor. Meaning more resources he can use to find information than _I_ will ever have."

"Lois…"

"Smallville, I'm sorry. I can't help with whatever little problem you've got going."

"Lois, it's all over the news. And not just that, it's been reported about Lex saying you told Superman about her."

Lois leaned back and rested her head on the back of her leather seat before twisting her head to look at him. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want the truth." Clark leaned back on his desk as he stared down at her.

"I didn't tell him, Smallville. And that's it."

"Prove it."

Her eyebrows shot up. "How exactly do you expect me to do that?"

"Tell Superman who told you about her."

"I'm a little busy, Smallville. Unlike _you_, I'm actually working."

"Lois…"

"It was a couple of technicians out for some cash – Jerry Wordner and Michael Kian, I think. And that superhero…" She clicked her fingers before pointing at him. "The gold one from the future. Buster something?"

"Booster Gold." He sounded weary.

"That's him. He was really obnoxious – even worse than you. And that was just to his little robot thing. They were having a conversation about the girl and that she'd been attacked. Didn't even know that me and Jimmy were there." Lois pushed her hair behind her right ear and turned her attention back to the computer. "Am I off the hook now, Farmer Kent? Or are you going to tell on me to my Daddy?"

He shook his head slightly and smiled. "Thank you, Lois."

Rolling her eyes, she smiled slightly as he left. "Later, Smallville."

* * *

"Wally!"

Flash spun around, flashing a bright grin as she hurried over. "What's the rush, Shay? You told me that I needed to slow down and this is just hypocritical." He sighed. "I love that word."

She sent him a look. "I told you that you needed to stop rushing into things and avoid Lex Luthor. I didn't say you needed to slow down."

"Same difference." He shrugged. "And what can I do for you on this fine day?"

"It's about Ellie."

He looked up to the sky. "I already had this chat with John and J'onn. Who is surprisingly not a morning person. I don't know why…" Flash looked off to the distance with a wondering look.

"You don't even know what I want to talk about."

"You just said it was about Ellie. I know you're getting old, but really Shay…" He snickered as he zoomed off, avoiding her arms narrowly as she shrieked.

"Flash…I'm warning you…"

"Yeah, yeah. Continue."

"I know you're worried about her, but you can't go after –"

"HA! I knew it! Exact same words can I just say. And J'onn's the only psychic, so you must be practicing with each other. I know I'm not allowed to go after Lex, I have to be with someone at all times, must be in bed by ten, blah, blah, blah." He waved his hands around a bit as he slipped into a seat in the cafeteria, setting down his laptop.

"Why aren't you taking this seriously? Lex is dangerous. And he wants to hurt you! If you try anything, you're going to be the bad guy."

"I'm being very serious about this. Serious is as serious does."

She blinked a couple of times. "That didn't even make sense."

Flash smiled mysteriously in response.

"Wally, you're only a kid. And I know maturity comes with age, but you need to take some responsibility. It's not just you who's in danger now."

"Shay, I _know_." His voice had dropped slightly and even behind the mask, she could almost feel his frustration. "I know I'm just the immature kid who is never going to live up to expectations, but I've been a hero for nearly 9 _years_. I've been at it longer than you, Shay and I've taken out my fair share of baddies. I saved the word a few months ago and woopdidoo, I'm glad you aren't making a big deal out of it. But you're all treating me more and more like a six-year-old. And I'm _not_. I know responsibility; I am dealing with it. I'm 21. _Twenty-one_. That means I'm considered an adult in basically every country in the world." He paused.

"Wally…"

"And you can't talk! You're still avoiding John even after I set up that meeting with Ellie. Come on, Shay, like you said, I'm not the only one in danger. What about that kid they saw? Rex Stewart? Why aren't you fighting for him? It's obvious John's not in love with Vixen. He loves you but unless you do something about it, _nothing _is going to change. I respected you a hell of a lot more when you fought for what you believed in." He shook his head. "Right now I just see a hypocrite who won't take her own advice and take some responsibility for her actions and _grow up_." He swallowed slightly and looked down at his laptop before closing his eyes. "I'm sorry Shay, I didn't mean – "

"Yes you did." Her voice was quiet. "And you're right. But sometimes, loving someone means sacrificing your own happiness for theirs. And I loved John. I still do. Which means that if he's happy with Vixen, then fine." She held up a hand as he begun to protest. "He _is _happy. He's content. He may not be ridiculously in love, but I can tell that he likes his life as it is. And I'm not going to destroy that for him." She stood up. "I know you're frustrated, Wally. I know that we're coddling you. But we want to protect you. You're family to us. To me. I just want to make sure that when I get up in the morning, you're going to be safe and well. Look after yourself. Don't throw all you have away for pride." She got up and began to walk away, her eyes watering slightly as she set herself. Only Question was still in the room. As embarrassing as it was, as least there was only one person who had seen her humiliation at the hands of Flash.

"It wouldn't be for pride." The voice was soft, but caused her to halt. "It would be to protect someone I loved, just like you're all trying to do with me. Except I can handle myself. She can't."

* * *

"How's Ellie?" Nightwing's voice travelled through the still air.

"She's fine. Worried about what's going on." Raven shrugged, hovering slightly in midair as the Beast Boy and Cyborg stuffed themselves with food. "Seems to have taken a likening to Wally."

Starfire clapped her hands together excitedly as Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Wally West and Elizabeth Clarke. I don't know whether to be surprised or not."

"Dude, that's totally a match made in heaven. Think about it. The superhero and the criminal turned good finding love in the midst of panic. Totally storybook." Beast Boy chomped loudly.

"Except storybooks have happy endings. We don't know what this one is going to be like." Nightwing pointed out.

"Both are very nice," Starfire smiled. "You should try to enjoy that two people have found happiness with each other because human life is very short."

"They aren't together," Raven pointed out. "And we aren't going to get involved and try to set them up, no matter how much you want to, Beast Boy." He frowned and turned into a cat who stared up at Raven miserably. "I hate cats." Her voice was deadpan. Beast Boy turned back into himself.

"There is just no pleasing you," he pouted.

"_Any_way, I want to continue investigating into the people after Ellie."

"Even after Batman's warning? The guy is like the opposite of the Joker on the scary scale – just as freaky on a whole different degree." Cyborg bit into another chicken leg. "I know he used to be your mentor, and as uptight as you are, you're surprisingly normal for having grown up with him and that housekeeper dude who Wally keeps calling Jeeves."

"His name's Alfred and Bruce can't control me. I'm twenty-one, not a kid, and I don't need to rely on him anymore."

"Doesn't he fund the tower?" Raven asked, sounding slightly amused.

"We're funded by the Jump City government. Bruce is only a small part of the budget. And do you want to know about what I found or not?" He was beginning to sound quite flustered.

Starfire patted his knee. "Of course."

He groaned softly as Beast Boy and Cyborg snickered, quietening down at Starfire's glowing glare. "I was investigating into the OS4 project that the League found, and I figured out a couple of people who were funding the project. One of them was a Mrs. O. Potter, head of Potter's Industries. They own a large amount of corporations, including the companies that own McDonalds, Starbucks, Waterstones, Primark, and so on."

"That doesn't sound particularly criminal."

"The person that she bought Starbucks from was a Mr. Roy Gilligan. She bought it for a couple of dollars."

Cyborg snickered. "No one is going to sell something like the Starbucks trademark for anything less than a million. No one in their right mind, anyway."

"Exactly. Potter's Industries didn't just fund the OS4 project, they also funded parts of Luthor Corp and various chemical experiments including one that was very successful but destroyed later before it got out properly. She managed to use it on Mr. Gilligan – a drug that left him totally under the control of the first person to speak to them. He committed suicide the day after he signed the deal."

"So what happened?"

"She sold all the companies for billions of dollars a few years back to various other retailers, but somehow is finding herself in debt. It's as though one day all her money just disappeared."

Raven lowered herself to the ground. "What happened?"

"Every single person involved in the OS4 project has found themselves going bust. As surprising as it is, the Luthors were never involved in that group – David. The current leader has managed to assassinate most of the people who defied her over the years. She's been in power for a round for over 10 years. But no one has ever seen her face. Or if they have, no one's telling. There's no name, nothing. But Lex Luthor got contacted by some mysterious donor who wanted to talk to him about a deal."

Screwing up his face, Beast Boy sniffed. "But what has that got to do with Ellie?"

"To the boss of David, Ellie's a threat. She could easily take out her whole system because of the funding into the OS4. But with all the notes and everything destroyed and Ellie still out there, it means there is no way of combating her if she decides that she's going to take out David." He paused expectantly, frowning at their blank looks. "It means that the only way she is ever going to be completely sure of her position is to build an even better OS. And she needs the computer."

"So why doesn't she just get someone to kill Ellie and steal it then? Why go to all the hassle of kidnapping her? It's a lot easier to just grab something and run then grab a person and hope they don't try and escape," Cyborg stated.

"If when Ellie and the OS4 got separated, then Ellie almost died, what do you think happens to the OS4?" Nightwing said quietly.

"It goes bye-bye," Beast Boy muttered, popping a crisp into his mouth.

Nightwing nodded. "It goes boom."

* * *

The sudden explosion to her side surprised her, which was really what surprised her. Her life had become such a matter of explosions and pain mixed in with a whole lot of rescuings that being surprised at one of those seemed particularly stupid. So once she had gotten over the fact that someone had either managed to heat up the potassium nitrate again or had broken in the Watchtower, which she had been told was impossible, she wasn't particularly amazed when various people broke into her room wearing black jumpsuits and carrying oddly futuristic weapons. As whenever someone said something was impossible, it was Sod's Law or Murphy's Law or whoever's Law that it was somehow going to happen. But it didn't mean she was happy about it.

Because getting hit over the head hard enough to knock you unconscious on the first blow means only one thing. A hell of a headache.

* * *

**AN: I know there was quite a lot of Teen Titans in that and sorry - that's the most they are going to be in there, I'm going to be dropping them now and focusing mainly on Wally. However there will be more of Bats and Superman as well as the rest of the founders, and of course, Ellie will also be in it. I hope you enjoy it and have fun with the cliffhanger!  
**

**OOOx...MWAHAHAHA,  
**

**Floaging**


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